The story of Darla Dursley
by MelanieB
Summary: AU. Harry has a cousin a year younger named Darla. This story is in her point of view. Check profile for details. If you have question's I'll answer them in forum.
1. Chapter 1

"Oh Darla, when will you learn?"

Darla looked up from the flower bed at her mother who was frowning. She glanced down at her dress and realized right away what her mother was angry about. She had gotten her dress all dirty again.

"You just had a bath! When are you going to learn that girls stay clean?"

"But mummy." Darla said standing up. "I was planting flowers. Look, lilies!"

A dark look came over her mothers face for a moment before she shook her head. "When I was your age, I never got this dirty when I planted the flower beds."

"I'm not you mummy." Darla said. "And I'll clean up, I promise."

"Go in now and have a bath. I've got to find your brother and cousin."

Darla walked away from her mother with her head down. She was tired of her mother always telling her that she wasn't the perfect little girl. Dudley and Harry were always getting dirty but she never scolded them as much! She thought to herself. She corrected herself, her mother didn't care if Harry was dirty unless he got it on her precious clean floors. Then she cared.

As long as Darla could remember, her cousin Harry had lived with them. She had just been a couple months old when he moved in. Her parents didn't seem to like him very much even though he was their own nephew. She didn't understand why, he didn't seem bad at all. She didn't talk to him as much as she wanted, in fear of her brother Dudley's wrath. Dudley seemed to enjoy teasing and bullying Harry.

Harry lived in the cupboard under the stairs. Darla didn't understand why her parents made him sleep there when there was a room upstairs he could use. It was used as the toy room but also for her Aunt Marge when she came to visit. It was the smallest room in the house, but she thought it would be better for Harry than the cupboard. He was a very short and skinny boy so he fit but Darla figured he would have a growth spurt soon. He was turning eleven at the end of the month, July thirty-first.

Darla passed Harry in the house. She smiled at him. "Better not let mummy see your shoes." She glanced at his white shoes that were soaked. "She already yelled at me for my dress."

"Thanks." Harry mumbled.

Harry didn't talk much to her either, but she had a feeling he thought she didn't like him. He probably thought she was like Dudley who enjoyed seeing Harry getting bullied by their parents, but she didn't. She was never sure what to talk to him about when she could actually talk to him.

Darla had a quick bath, knowing it wasn't up to her mother's standards but she didn't care. She decided on her pajamas knowing her mother would get angry that she was wearing pajama's to the dinner table, but she didn't care.

She looked a lot like her mother but they were very different. Her mother had to have everything in it's place while Darla just didn't care. They were both thin with blond hair and had long necks. Darla was often called giraffe in school by her classmates. She'd rather have her looks than her older brothers Dudley who was twice the size of any normal eleven year old boy. Her parents both said it was just baby fat and refused to notice that he was over weight. Darla knew if it were her, her mother would be on her case constantly.

Secretly she teased Dudley about his weight when he teased her about her neck, or that she didn't have any friends. It was true but she didn't mind since she could find her friends in story books and dolls.

Darla entered the kitchen where everyone else was already sitting at the table. Her father was lecturing Harry about something. Harry had his head down and nodding. She wondered if it was because of his shoes. Dudley was hiding his laughter behind his hand as he watched.

"Oh Darla! You know I don't like it when you dress in your pajamas for dinner." Her mother exclaimed glancing at her.

"Oh Petunia let her be." Her father said. "Darla loves her pajamas don't you sweety."

"Yes daddy." Darla said with a grin.

"All right, well just for tonight." Her mother said with a frown.

Dudley leaned over close to whisper in her ear. "Daddies girl." He hissed.

"Fat mama's boy." She whispered back.

"I'm not fat!" Dudley hissed back. "I have big bones."

"Must be very big bones Dudders." She said giggling.

Dudley poked her in the side hard. She glanced at Harry and noticed he was watching her. He smiled at her before looking down at his plate again as her mother started to scold Dudley for poking her. She knew Dudley would get her back later, he rarely ever got scolded by their parents.

A/N: This was basically an introductory chapter. For more info check my profile.


	2. Chapter 2

(Double quotes mean it was from the book)

_One Year Later_

Darla stared out the window at her Harry's retreating back as he headed down the street. She wondered who had angered him this time. Ever since he had returned home from school her parents and brother were meaner to him than they had been before, if that were even possible. She was happy to have him home again, along with Dudley.

She had been very lonely without Harry or Dudley around during the school year. She had missed walking into the kitchen to find Dudley's large bottom hanging out of the fridge as he looked for food, she had missed their arguments, and Dudley's teasing. She wasn't sure what she missed about Harry since they had never had a close relationship, but she had missed him.

"What are you doing Giraffe?"

A voice asked from behind her. She turned to see Dudley standing in the door way eating out of large bag of pretzels. She flinched as he grinned, showing food all over his teeth.

Her brother had gotten larger over the school year and she felt revolted seeing him at times. She didn't understand why her parents couldn't see that he had gotten so large and gross. She was scared for his health, something she had let him know over and over again but he didn't listen.

"Dudley, why do you have to eat so much?" She asked. "I don't care if mum and dad say it's just baby fat, it's not!"

"The men in our family are meant to be huge" Dudley said. "Well except if you are the freak."

"Harry is not a freak and it's not healthy to be your size Dudley." Darla lectured.

Dudley laughed, spraying the pretzels on to her face. Darla began gagging as she wiped her face off. She knew he had done that on purpose, it was favourite past time, grossing out his sister. She glared at him and sat down on her bed with her arms folded.

"Harry _is_ a freak Darla. Why do you think our parents treat him the way they do?"

"They don't like things to be different." She answered. "I think it's neat that he is a wizard."

"Yeah, really neat." Dudley said sarcastically. "Going off to a school to learn magic tricks!"

"You're just angry because that giant man gave you a tail!" Darla retorted.

The memory still made Darla laugh. She remembered clearly what had happened the year before. They had been having breakfast and Dudley had been poking her with a stick that was for his school year at Smeltings. Harry had gone off to get the mail and had returned with a letter that had made both her parents go mad. Her father had gotten rid of the letter and then had finally given Harry the toy room.

Every day after that more and more letters came. Darla and Dudley, along with Harry tried their hardest to get a letter but their parents had always managed to stop them from getting one. It finally got to the point that their father took them out of the house to a motel where more letters showed up. Their father then took them to a shack in the middle of the water where he believed that the letters couldn't get to them.

Instead a giant made showed up at the shack and told them all that Harry was a wizard and that he would be going to a school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Darla remembered staring up at the giant man in disbelief and fear as she hid in a corner behind her father. Her father said something that angered the giant man because he pointed an umbrella at Dudley that seemed to have magic powers in it and gave him a pigs tail.

Darla was surprised that her parents let Harry go. The giant also said that Harry was famous because an evil wizard had killed his parents.

"I'm going to tell dad that you said that." Dudley said. "He said you weren't supposed to tease me about it."

"You aren't supposed to tease me about my neck." Darla said. "So I'll tell him you called me a Giraffe."

Dudley grunted and stuffed more pretzels in his mouth before turning and leaving the room. Darla got up and looked out the window to see that Harry was returning. He was kicking a rock and glaring, she wished she could talk to him.

-

Darla entered the kitchen feeling tired. She had been awoken by her fathers angry yelling at Harry because his owl had woken him up. She still couldn't believe her cousin owned an owl and she wondered why exactly anyone would want an owl in the first place. Her father insisted on keeping her locked up because he was afraid Harry would send letters with her to his friends. She wondered how an owl would deliver a letter, it didn't seem possible.

Then he was yelling at Harry for something else. Everyone looked angry though as she entered the kitchen and took her place at the table. She grabbed a piece of toast and started to eat, remembering that it was Harry's twelfth birthday. She wondered if she should say something to him about it.

""Now, as we all know, today is a very important day."" Her father suddenly said and Darla felt surprised, her father never said that on Harry's birthday. It was usually just a grunted Happy Birthday and some cheap used gift. ""This could be the day I make the biggest deal of my career.""

Darla almost groaned aloud but she held it in. She had forgotten that her father had people coming over for dinner that night for some career deal. If it paid off he would buy them a summer house in Majorca. Darla wished she was Harry at that moment, he didn't have to go. She knew the dinner party was going to be boring and she'd rather not be there. Her mother expected her to sit pretty and pretend to be interested in the conversation, but not say a word. Little girls were meant to be seen, not heard.

Darla stared down at her plate and jumped as Dudley poked her.

"Don't!" She whined.

"Dad asked you a question." He said with a smirk.

"Yes daddy?" She asked.

"Where will you be tonight when the Mason's arrive?" He asked but he was smiling, as if he expected this from her.

"Oh, erm, I'll be with mum in the lounge sitting pretty? When they come in I'll say 'Hello Mr. and Mrs. Mason, I'm very pleased to meet you.'" Darla said.

Dudley smiled at her and shook his head. He mouthed something at her that she didn't quite catch because at the moment her father was asking Harry what he would be doing. He looked miserable as he grunted a reply. Darla stuck her tongue out at Dudley and began eating again as her parents continued to talk about what they would be doing. She was in the middle of her bacon when Dudley poked her again.

"What!?" She exclaimed.

"Do you have any ideas about what you should say at dinner to the Masons?" Her father asked in a patient voice. "Mummy is going to compliment Mrs. Mason's dress and Mr. Mason's golfing skills."

"I don't know." Darla said with a shrug. "What is Dudley going to say?"

"You'd know that if you were listening." Dudley said. "I'm going to tell him that he's my hero and I wrote about him in school."

Darla choked as she started to laugh. For the first time that morning her father frowned at her and he hit her in the back to stop her from choking.

"Come on Darla, let's go." Her father said as Darla caught a glimpse of Harry trying to hide his laughter.

Darla glanced at her mother and knew right away what she should say. "Mrs. Mason, you are so pretty. I hope I will grow up to be a fine lady just like you."

She held in a giggle, not wanting her father to get angry with her again. Her mother applauded her excitedly and Dudley rolled his eyes at her. Her father just simply beamed. Darla quickly asked if she could excuse herself and got up to get out of the room quick before she would start laughing again. She hurried up to her room to change. She laughed to herself as she pulled out the clothes she would wear for the day.

Once she was dressed she decided to work in the vegetable garden. As she went outside she saw that Dudley was taunting Harry again. She shook her head and walked over to the garden and kneeled down. She was lost in thought until she heard shouting. She looked up to see her mother yelling at Harry before giving him a list of chores to do.

Dudley made fun of him for a while before getting bored. Slowly, Darla made her way over to Harry where he kneeled at the flower bed, working on the roses she and her mother had planted.

"Want help?" She asked.

"If you want." He grunted.

"Happy birthday by the way. It must be cool to be turning twelve." She said.

"Thanks." He said. "But it really isn't that great."

"Maybe not for a boy. And you can't prune the roses that way, you'll ruin them. Here, I'll show you." She said as she watched him for a moment.

"Well," He said finally smiling. "You'll have to tell me next year when you turn twelve."

"So what is your school like?" Darla asked. "It sounds so cool. I think you are so lucky. I don't think you are a freak by the way."

"I know." Harry answered. "But your mum and dad don't want me talking about my school."

"They aren't around and Dudley is gone. He won't rat, I saw him leaving with Piers Polkiss." Darla answered. "Please Harry! It sounds so fascinating."

She looked up and saw her mother watching them, but she didn't stop Darla from helping Harry. Harry looked at her mother nervously too before telling her in a low voice about his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. He also told her that Hogwarts had four houses called Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.

"What house are you in?" Darla asked.

"Gryffindor." He answered.

"Slytherin sounds neat. It reminds me of snakes. Didn't you talk to a snake at Dudley's birthday last year?"

"Slytherin is for people who are evil." Harry stated. "They are all unpleasant people."

He explained to her about a boy named Draco Malfoy who was his enemy and worse bully than Dudley. Darla stayed with him for the day, eager to hear as much as she could about Hogwarts. He seemed happy to be telling her all about it. He didn't even mind when she followed him around as he mowed the lawn talking.

"I wish I could go." She told him. "Mum wants to send me to some school for prissy girls. It's supposed to teach me about manners and to act like a lady. But I would rather go to Stonewall."

"You wouldn't want to go." Harry told her as they washed the car. "The reason your parents are the way they are with me is because I am a wizard."

"I'm their daughter." Darla said. "They would never treat me like that. I think it's guilt because your mum died and my mum never wanted anything to do with her. She hates you mum's memory and you are a memory of her. She doesn't hate _you_."

"Yeah." Harry said with a laugh.

"No I think it's true!" Darla said. "Mum always gets so upset when I mention your mum now. I tried finding out about her all year but she wouldn't tell me anything. I think that if I was a witch though, they would realize that they haven't treated you right."

"Listen Darla, you are not a witch." Harry answered. "I think you'll be very happy at your school."

"I know." Darla said sadly. "It's wishful thinking; I've always wanted magical powers though. I don't understand though, our grandma and grandpa weren't magical were they? How did your mum become a witch?"

"Just as my friend Hermione is. She was born a witch even though her parents weren't one. It happens a lot and the Muggles have to keep it quiet."

"I doubt they would believe it anyway." Darla said with a shrug.

They worked in silence again until it got late and her mother called her to come in. Darla thanked Harry for letting her spend the day with him before running inside. She knew her mother would be angry that she was all dirty again, but she had let her do the yard work. She had watched her and Harry all day.

"Walk in the News paper dear." Her mother said. "I don't know why you would want to help him do the chores."

"I just wanted to spend time with him mum." Darla said. "Is that a crime?"

"It is when we have important people coming over and you need to stay clean. I hope that boy wasn't putting ideas in your head." Her mother answered.

"He wasn't. I just wanted to talk to him and it's his birthday you know."

"Just go have a bath. You need to be dressed and ready for the Mason's."

Darla hurried though the house and up the stairs. Dinner smelled good and she couldn't wait to eat the delicious dessert that was sitting on the fridge. She took a long warm bath before changing into the dress that her mother had placed in the bathroom for her. As she left the bathroom almost an hour later. She passed Harry down the steps as her uncle hissed a threat at her and the doorbell rang.

"Hurry princess, in the lounge." Her father whispered.

Darla hurried into the lounge and her mother pointed at an armchair and told her to sit like a lady.

"Remember to stand when they come in and sit after they sit." Her mother whispered.

Darla heard Dudley asking to take the Mason's coats. A few moments later an older man and woman entered the room. Even though they were older they still looked young. Mrs. Mason was dressed in a pretty white dress; she had her brown hair piled up in a bun and wore a lot of makeup. Mr. Mason had black hair that was slowly turning grey and thinning out. He was dressed in a black suit.

Darla quickly stood up. "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Mason it's very err I'm very pleased to meet you." She said flushing at her mistake.

"A very beautiful little girl you have there." Mr. Mason said with a nod as her father offered them seats.

"Thank you." Darla said politely.

"How old are your children now Vernon?" Mrs. Mason asked.

"Dudley is twelve and Darla will be eleven at the end of August. This is my lovely wife Petunia." Her father said with a large smile that showed his teeth.

"Yes, we've heard so much about you Petunia. It's nice to finally meet you." Mr. Mason said.

"And I am happy to meet you too." Her mother said.

Her father poured them drinks. Her mother left the room to get dinner ready on the table while her father began talking to Mr. Mason. Mrs. Mason smiled at Darla and began asking her about school and her grades.

"And what school will you be going to in the fall dear?"

"Frances School for girls." Darla answered.

"Oh yes, I've heard of it. It is a very good school and I'm sure you'll be happy there." She said nodding.

Moments later her mother returned and they were to go to the dining room. Darla followed behind everyone while Dudley took Mrs. Mason's arm and led her to the dining room. Darla wondered if the Mason's figured out that everything they were doing was rehearsed. They had to know by her mother's fake laugh, no one would ever fall for it.

Dudley and Darla had to wait until all the adults were seated before they could sit down. A few moments into eating she felt her mother prod her.

"You are very pretty Mrs. Mason." Darla said. "I hope I can grow up to be a fine lady like you."

"Why thank you dear." She said as Dudley gave Mr. Mason his line.

It could have been Darla's imagination but she thought that Mr. Mason didn't buy it. He had a small frown on his face as he glanced at her father. He must have caught it too because he quickly launched into his golf joke. Darla felt restless and suddenly they heard loud squealing coming from upstairs. She saw her father freeze and her parents glanced at each other before her father jumped up.

"Dudley must have left his television on again!" he shouted looking as though he had thought of saying that fast. "The little tyke."

"Mum, I'm bored." Darla whispered in her mother's ear.

"After dessert you can go to bed, I know it's hard for children to sit through an important dinner." Her mother whispered back. "But please dear, try to look interested."

Darla sat up straight as her father came back. He was chuckling and he gave Dudley's shoulder a gentle pat and as he lectured that he shouldn't leave the television on.

"So, how did that joke end?" Mr. Mason asked interested.

Things seemed to go smoothly for a little while longer, Darla wondering what it was that Harry had been doing when they heard a loud smash come from the kitchen. They all jumped up and ran into the kitchen to see Harry covered head to toe in the pudding that had looked so delicious. Darla's mouth dropped open; he couldn't have done that on purpose she thought. Maybe he had wanted a sample and had accidentally dropped it.

Her father made him clean the kitchen while they all returned to the dining room. He explained to them that Harry was his nephew and meeting strangers disturbed him. Darla tried to nod to make this seem true but she had trouble holding back a laugh. It seemed everything would be ok until an owl flew into the house and dropped a letter onto Mrs. Mason who ran from the house screaming. After a very angry Mr. Mason left her father shooed both she and Dudley up to bed.

"Poor Harry." Darla murmured to Dudley as they went upstairs.

"Poor Harry? I wanted that pudding and he ruined it." Dudley snarled.

"All you ever think about is food." Darla responded.

The next day her father had Harry locked into his room and put bars on the window so he couldn't escape. Darla felt so sorry for him and she wondered why he smashed the pudding, and why he had used magic. According to Dudley the letter the owl had brought had said that Harry wasn't suppose to do magic outside school and he would be expelled if he did it again.

Darla kept looking for opportunities to sneak into Harry's room. For one, she knew her mother wasn't giving him enough food, but she also had to know why he did it. She finally found her chance when Dudley was out with friends and her mother was out talking with the neighbours. She knew this could take hours. She found the key on top of the fridge and hurried up the steps to Harry's room with some sandwiches and juice.

She found him lying on his back staring up at the ceiling. He looked surprised to see her.

"Hi, I brought you some food." Darla said.

"You can get in a lot of trouble for this." He said not taking the sandwich she offered him.

"Mum is talking to the neighbours. She'll be out there for a while." Darla said. "Anyway, she won't check her shows are coming on soon."

Harry took the sandwich. "Thanks."

"So why did you use magic to smash the pudding?" Darla asked.

"It wasn't me." Harry answered. "It was a house elf."

"A what?" Darla asked.

"A house elf. They are like servants; they do house chores and stuff I guess. This one was called Dobby and he was warning me not to go to school." He said feeding some of the meat to the owl.

It was a very pretty snowy owl. Darla walked over to her and wondered if she would bite.

"Why?" She asked.

"He just said I was in danger. You can pet her through the cage, she won't bite." Harry said. "I wish I could let her out so I could let my friends know about this. Your parents don't want me going back to school. They want to keep me locked up."

"Maybe I can talk to daddy." Darla said petting the owl.

"Don't do it Darla." Harry said warningly. "I'll find away out. The school will probably wonder why I'm not there."

"They won't keep you locked up for that long." Darla said. "And if they do I'll let you out myself when it's time for school to start. I'll do it at night so they won't know."

"You'll do that for me?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Yes." Darla answered. "I love my parents a lot but what they are doing isn't right. You're going to school Harry. Don't worry."

--

It seemed he didn't have to worry either way since one night Harry escaped. Three of his friends came in a car and helped him get out the room. She a long with everyone else was awakened by Hedwig, Harry's owl. She jumped put of bed to protect Harry as her father ran to Harry's room. Dudley waddled after her just to watch Harry get yelled at.

The sight that met their eyes wasn't something anyone expected to see. A ford Anglia was outside Harry's room. Three boys were in the car; Harry was just stashing Hedwig in the car as her father ran toward him to stop him from leaving. Go Harry she thought, hurry! Her father yelled for her mother as the boys in the car helped pull Harry into the car and they drove off.

"Yes!" Darla muttered under her breathe as her brother and parents stared out the open window shocked.

She heard Harry shout something from the car window. Her father and mother turned to look at each other.

"How did he do it?" They asked at the same time.

Dudley just looked shocked and disappointed. Her parents turned to them and told them to go to bed. Darla felt sad that she wouldn't see Harry again for almost a year. She felt sad when she thought of that. She wanted him back; they had gotten closer over the days they had spent together. She knew what to talk to him about now.

Then the next morning the letter came, the letter that changed the fate of her life.


	3. Chapter 3

Darla sat at the kitchen table feeling sad that Harry was gone. She was glad that he had escaped but now she had no one friendly around anymore. Her mother and father had told them that what had happened the night before had never happened and they weren't to mention Harry for the rest of the summer. Instead her mother was telling her father that she wanted to take Darla shopping for school that day. Dudley was telling their parents that he was going to a friends for tea (which she knew was a lie, they were out picking on little kids) and her father was talking about a new deal he could get for the drills.

Darla heard the mail come in so she got up to get it. She found fliers and a bill for her father. The mail slot opened suddenly a moment later and another envelope flew in. Darla bent down and picked it up. She froze when she read the envelope, it was the same exact envelope Harry had gotten a year before except her name was on it.

_Mrs. D Dursley_

_The kitchen_

_4 Privet Drive _

_Little Whinging_

_Surrey_

She opened the letter slowly hoping no one would come. She still wasn't sure if this was for her. Maybe it was for her to give to Harry she thought. Two pieces of paper that was thick and strange to her fell out. She opened the first one and felt excitement go through her as she read it.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY _

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc. Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Darla Dursley,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl by no later then August 20th.

Yours, sincerely

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

The other paper contained a list of books and equipment. She couldn't believe half the stuff that was on the list. She needed a cauldron? She felt her excitement slowly fall away as she heard footsteps in the hallway. She looked up to see her father entering the hall smiling.

"What is taking so long princess?" He asked.

She just stared at him and slowly showed him the letter. The colour drained out of his face as he snatched the letter from her hand. He shook his head and stared at Darla who felt nervous, what would he do?

"PETUNIA!" He yelled loudly. "GET IN HERE!"

She watched as her mother and brother burst in looking worried. Wordlessly her father handed her mother the letter. Her mother read the letter twice through before staring at Darla, a look of shock and something else that Darla couldn't quite catch was on her face.

"No…" She murmured "This can't be happening."

"You told me when you got pregnant with Dudley that this wouldn't happen!" Her father said angrily.

"I didn't think it could, my sister was muggle born! There was no magical blood in our family before that." Her mother said in a shaky voice.

"She's not going. It's bad enough I have to deal with your nephew, it is not happening with my daughter. We will pretend it didn't happen." Her father said frantically.

Darla looked at Dudley and felt shocked by the look on his face. He was staring at her with hatred. She had never seen Dudley look at her like that, he didn't even stare at Harry that way. She had been in plenty of fights with Dudley where her parents had punished Dudley and never ever then had her glared at her so much.

"I don't know if that will work Vernon. Remember last year?" Her mother said still shaky.

"Why is this happening?" Her father asked. "How come it's my girl? Why did I have to marry into a family that is full of-"

"I hope you don't plan on finishing that sentence Vernon." Her mother snapped.

Darla had never seen her parents argue. She hoped they would let her go and that they wouldn't hate her for it. Dudley continued to stare at her, he was shaking his head.

"It's all that boys fault." Her father said. "He did something to her."

"He did not daddy." Darla said. "You had to have known, you saw me do strange magical things when I was a little kid but you always told me not to tell mummy."

She remembered now. There was a time when she was about three and her father had been throwing her up in the air and catching her. He dropped her and she fell to the ground but then she bounced back into his arms.

"I did something magical when I was baby too before Harry came along. I made my bottle go to you." She said.

The last part she knew because he had said something about it once when she was five and he tried to punish her by taking her dolls. One by one they came back to her and he had yelled out in frustration. "Oh you did this when you were a month old too! You made your bottle fly into my hand. Stop it Darla! Don't ever let me see you do this again and don't let your mum see you either." he had shouted.

Why hadn't she remembered this stuff before? How was it that she had forgotten it completely and hadn't even remembered the year before when Harry had gotten his letter? Why was it now, the morning she got a letter that she realizes she is a witch? Her father just stared at her while her mother rounded on her father.

"You knew and you didn't tell me! You should have Vernon, I am not prepared for this!" her mother shouted. "Why!?"

"I didn't want to worry you Petunia; I was hoping we could take the magic out of her the way we tried with Harry!" He said.

"You should have realized last year that we couldn't do that. She has to go now Vernon. They'll send that giant back here if we don't send her." Her mother answered angrily.

"I don't want no daughter of mine to go to a magical school!" Her father shouted back.

Her mother didn't say anything for a moment then she turned to Dudley and Darla and sighed.

"Kid's go upstairs to your rooms. Vernon, let's go to the kitchen and talk about this calmly." Her mother said softly.

"I should be in the kitchen with you since it involves me." Darla stated.

Her mother nodded but made Dudley go upstairs before they all went out to the kitchen. Darla looked at her father while he read through the letter again. She sat down at the table while her father paced and her mother began to clear the table.

"The boy is famous in that world isn't he?" Her father asked. "So maybe they won't try as hard with Darla. I don't even know how we are supposed to send a response when that boy took his owl."

"I wish you would have told me Vernon. I knew Harry would get a letter but I wasn't prepared for this."

"Do you think that giant will come back?"

"I don't know."

"I want to go." Darla interrupted. "Please."

"No." Her father said shaking his head. "You are not one of them. You are going to grow up normal. If we didn't have that boy around it would be easier."

"I don't know if we have much of a choice Vernon. I do know that I am going through what we went through last year again." Her mother said sitting in a chair slowly.

"The parents should have some say in the matter. It doesn't seem right that we have to send our kids to this school."

"That giant told us last year that if Harry didn't go to school he would lose control of his powers and then the Muggles could find out." Darla said. "It happens with all muggleborns that don't go to school."

She hoped her parents wouldn't remember that the giant hadn't said that. It had been a question she had asked Harry when she had visited him in his room. She had wondered if parents could have a say on whether or not they could go to Hogwarts or not.

"What happens if a muggleborn doesn't go to school?" She had asked while she petted Hedwig and fed her.

"I don't really know." Harry answered. "I suppose parents have a say in whether or not they want their kids to go."

"So do the powers just disappear?"

"Maybe, but they could also lose control of their powers. I set that snake on Dudley last year after he had punched me hadn't I? Maybe if one is really angry they accidentally use their powers." Harry had said thoughtfully. "It's something I would have to ask Hermione."

"That could happen." Her mother was saying slowly. "And if she did something that the neighbours saw…"

"So you're telling me we have to send her?" Her father asked. "There has to be another alternative Petunia."

"Daddy, I want to go." Darla said pleadingly. "Please."

"Darla, let your father and I discuss some more. Just go to your room for now."

Darla got up from the table, hoping they would let her go. She left the kitchen as her father sat down at the table with his head in his hand. Dudley jumped back as she went into the hallway, he was still scowling at her. She walked passed him and he followed, stomping loudly.

"You can't tell me you want to go." Dudley said angrily.

"I do." Darla said.

"Hear this Darla Durlsey." Dudley said grabbing her shoulder as she tried to climb the steps. "You go to that school and you are dead to me."

--

Darla lay on her bed staring at the ceiling when the door opened. Her mother and father entered the room. Her father didn't seem to want to look at her, instead he stared at the pink and white walls, walls he had painted himself for her. Her mother walked over and sat on the edge of the bed.

"We've talked about it." She answered in a stiff voice. "And we have decided you can go."

"Really!?" Darla exclaimed excitedly. "Oh wow mum thanks!"

"We will pay for you to go this year." Her father said still not looking at her. "But you'll have to pay yourself after this year."

He turned and left the room quickly. Darla glanced at her mother who didn't seem to want to look at her either. She stared at the floor while she explained that an owl seemed to know they needed it because it had flown in the house so they had sent the response with the owl and asked for someone to take her to get her supplies.

"You father will write a cheque tonight." Her mother finished.

She got up and left the room quickly. Darla felt her excitement die down, neither one of her parents had wanted to look at her. They were now going to treat her the way they treated Harry. As she lay back down on the bed she wondered how she could contact Harry to let him know that she was a witch. As she wondered this she heard a familiar voice say: "Long necked freak!"

--

Darla had never felt like a stranger in her own home. Her parents seemed to make small conversation with her but they seemed to want to avoid her. The last few weeks were miserable for her. A teacher from the school who was a stern elderly women had come to take her to get her stuff. It was a Saturday she went but her father seemed to have disappeared for the day and had not come back until later that night.

The teacher, who had told her to call her Professor McGonagall had taken her around a place called Diagon Alley. They had entered a pub on the street and had gone to the back of the store. Professor McGonagall had tapped some bricks with her wand which than opened into a long street that twisted out of site.

They first exchanged her money at the bank which was run by Goblins. Darla couldn't believe her eyes when she had seen them. She didn't know the woman well but she had moved closer to her anyway and hadn't moved from her side until they left the building.

The first thing they had gotten was Darla's wand. An older man owned the shop and had seemed to know that she was Harry Potter's cousin, he had also told her that he'd been expecting her. She'd looked at Professor McGongall for an explanation but she wasn't paying attention. The man who was called Ollivander had her try five different wands before she felt a warm sensation go through her.

She stared at her wand as she lay on the bed with all her school supplies around her. She had gotten a lot of books, some she had already gone through late at night and others she still needed to read. Her wand fascinated her the most out of everything she had gotten because she knew it was what would produce magic. It was made out of Hazel wood, it was seven inches long and had a unicorn hair in it. She wanted so much to try a spell out from her spell book but she knew it wasn't allowed, she didn't want to get expelled.

She heard shuffling in the hall and looked up to see Dudley enter the room.

"Why do you have to do this Darla?" He asked.

"I think you are just jealous." She answered.

"No I'm not." He replied. "I meant what I said. You still have the chance to back out."

"If you stop talking to me just because I'm a witch, I feel sorry for you." Darla muttered. "Now get out of my room. I'm busy."

Dudley didn't have to be told twice, he turned quickly and left muttering that she was a freak. Darla was use to this now but it still hurt to hear it. She was almost happy that she wouldn't see her family until Christmas even though she knew she would miss them.

--

The cold goodbye Darla's parents gave her was the worst experience of her life. Dudley hadn't even come to say goodbye to her, he had stayed home saying that he wanted to rest before he went to school. Her parents had bought it but Darla knew the truth, he didn't want to see her. Meanwhile her parents took her to the train station and helped her get her trunk on a trolley cart.

"Wait until we go before you do it." Her father grunted as she hugged him. "I don't want to see it."

According to what Harry had told her she had to run between Platforms nine and ten to get to the wizards platform which was called Platform nine and three quarters. She had asked him when she'd helped him do the chores because the year before her parents had left him there when they couldn't find his Platform. He'd explained that it was hidden from the muggles and she had told her parents this on the way when her mother had asked how she was to get on the Platform when it didn't seem to exist. Darla didn't understand why her mother didn't seem to know much about the wizarding world when her sister had been a witch.

"I'll see you at Christmas." She said softly as her parents turned to go.

"You may come home, but that boy stays there." Her father grunted. "Make sure you tell him that and if _you_ want to stay there it's ok."

Darla's mouth dropped open when he said the last bit, it hurt a lot. Blinking back tears she looked up at the clock to see it was half past ten and decided she'd better hurry. The train would leave in a hurry. Remembering that Harry said he had to run at the between the barrier Platforms nine and ten, Darla took a deep breath and began running.

She knew what would happen, she would crash and everyone would start laughing at her. She wondered why no one even seemed to notice that she was running at the barrier. Suddenly, she was in front of a train that was scarlet, on it was written the words: The Hogwarts Express. For the second time that day her mouth dropped open, it had worked! She rolled her Trolley over to the train wishing she could have come with Harry, she wouldn't be able to get her trunk on by herself.

"Do you need help little girl?" A could voice asked her.

She looked up and saw a man with cold gray eyes, he seemed to be sneering at her. Without waiting for an answer he picked up her trunk and stepped into the train. Darla just stared after him.

"Usually you say thank you." A boy said appearing at her side, who looked just like the man.

He was very pale and had a pointed face and nose, he also had the same cold grey eyes. Darla just stared at him before chasing the man onto the train. He led her to an empty compartment and put her trunk in the luggage rack.

"I always think it's a _shame_ that a muggleborns parents can't help them out on the train." The man said in a cold voice.

"Er, well thank you." Darla said. "It was very kind."

"Father, that's the second one you've helped today." The boy said outside the compartment.

"Don't question what I do Draco." The man said. "I have my reasons; now come say good-bye to your mother."

Darla sat down wondering if that was the same evil Draco that had bothered Harry the year before. Then she remembered Harry! He had to be on the train at the moment too. She would have to look for him once the train went, but she didn't want anyone to take her spot. She couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he saw her.

A tall boy with very black hair entered the compartment a few minutes later with a man who helped him put his luggage away as well. The boy sat down smiling at her and waved to the man good-bye.

"You don't mind if I sit here do you?"

"No, it's ok." Darla said.

"Thanks, I am MatthewElphinstone." He said with a smile. "Half blood."

"I'm Darla Dursley, Muggleborn." She answered.

"Well, I can tell you what you need to know. That was my dad and I have a brother here too. My mum is a muggle and my dad is muggleborn."

"Really? Witches and Wizards marry muggles?" Darla asked shocked. "But I thought muggles couldn't know."

"My parents grew up next door to each other. My dad told my mum right away and she thought it was great." Matthew said with a shrug. "But it does happen, yes."

"I do know some things." Darla replied. "Because my cousin goes here too."

Matthew nodded and looked out the window as the train started to move. Darla looked out as well wondering what she should talk to him about. She was never good at making new friends, she never knew what she should say. The train was gaining speed now, she wondered if Harry was looking out the window as well.

"I'm hoping to find him and surprise him. He doesn't know I am a witch yet." Darla said after a while. "He stayed at a friends house for the last of September, he wasn't home when I got my letter."

"Oh he lives with you? Why doesn't he live with his parents?" Matthew asked.

"They died when he was a baby." Darla said. "They were wizards though. He didn't know until last year when he got his letter though, my parents didn't want to tell him. They really don't like the wizarding world."

"They'll have to get over it now though with both of you going to Hogwarts. What's his name?"

"Harry Potter." Darla said.

Matthew stared at her before he started to laugh. Darla didn't understand why and felt anger go through her. She angrily looked out the window while he continued to laugh.

"Good joke." He finally said. "So you've heard of him too?"

"He really is my cousin." Darla said. "I'm not joking. If you don't believe me, we can go find him and ask him."

The boy just shook his head and looked out the window again. She had forgotten that he was famous in the wizarding world. She wondered just how many other people would react the way Matthew just did. She wanted to try and find him just to prove that he really was her cousin. Matthew kept a smirk on his face for a while. He made small talk with her about his life before getting his letter. He told her he was hoping to be sorted in to Ravenclaw because both his father and brother had been there.

"I'm hoping to be sorted into Gryffindor so I can be with my cousin." Darla said.

"You're still going on about that?" He asked.

"I'm not lying." Darla said. "The last thing I would want to do is lie about something that people would know I'm lying about. I can prove it to you."

"All right, all right. If you really are his cousin, tell me what it was like growing up with him then."

Darla began telling the boy about Harry, carefully leaving out the fact that her parents had made him sleep in the cupboard under the stairs for almost ten years. He stared at her listening attentively about her life now. He seemed to believe her now. She told him about her parents had gotten scared when he had gotten his letter from Hogwarts.

"Wow." Matthew finally said. "Ok, I believe you only because it seems like too much to make up."

"So, will you help me find him then?" Darla asked. "I really would like him to know I am a witch."

"Why don't you surprise him at the sorting?" Matthew asked. "When they call your name to… do you know we're being sorted? I don't want to ruin it for you if you don't. My brother told me even though he wasn't suppose to."

"Yeah, Harry told me it was a talking hat and that it's in front of the whole school." Darla said. "He said that there are four house tables and a teachers table."

But Darla liked Matthew's idea. So she stayed in the compartment, Matthew talking more openly now that he knew he was talking to Harry Potter's cousin. A witch with a Trolley cart came in the afternoon with treats. Darla had some pocket money so she bought something called Bertie Botts every flavour beans. Matthew bought some as well and some chocolate frogs.

"Those _are_ every flavour." Matthew told her as she opened the box. "You can get some that taste like grass."

Darla took one and popped it into her mouth. It was orange and she figured it would be orange flavoured but it tasted like carrots instead. She grinned wondering if Harry had tried these as well and what he had thought of them. Matthew let her try a chocolate frog. Inside the chocolate frog were cards of famous witch and wizards. Darla didn't feel too surprised to see that Morgan le Fay had left her picture. Harry had told her that the people in photographs moved in the wizarding world and had shown pictures of his parents in a photo album he had.

Soon a voice echoed into their compartment: ""We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Matthew and Darla both pulled their school robes on and Darla felt excitement go through her. She couldn't wait until she could start performing spells and meeting new friends. She hoped she would, Matthew seemed friendly and it hadn't been hard talking to him. She hoped it would be easier to talk witches and wizards than it had been talking to muggles. She wouldn't have Dudley around.

She knew Dudley and Harry were the main reasons that she hadn't had friends in school before. The other kids had thought it was funny that Harry had to wear clothes that were to big for him when he was so skinny. They always wondered why Harry always had on broken glasses.

-Flashback

"The giraffes family is so poor because of Dudley." A girl once said. "He eats so much that they have no money left to buy clothes or new glasses for Harry or to feed Darla. No wonder she looks like a giraffe!"

-end flashback

No one would ever dare say this in front of Dudley because he and his gang would beat them up. That was another reason she didn't have friends because kids were too scared of Dudley to be friends with her.

She knew everything would be different now. Harry was famous and Dudley wasn't around, she was around people she had something in common with. She stuck to Matthew's side as they left the train together when it stopped. She looked around hoping to find Harry somewhere but couldn't see because there were too many students around. She did see one person that was very familiar, it was the giant man and he was calling for the first years.

"Firs' years!" he called out. "Follow me firs' years!"

Matthew and Darla followed the rest of the first years over to him. When she stepped in front of him he stared down at her shocked for a moment before calling out to them to follow him. So he recognized her as well. Darla thought to herself. She tried to stay near Matthew the whole time who was now looking at the man nervously.

""Yeh'll get your firs' site o' Hogwarts in a sec."" He called as they followed him down a dark path that was very steep.

Suddenly there was a loud breath intake from everyone as they stopped at the edge of a very large dark lake. Darla stared, across the lake was a large castle with many turrets and lights lit up on top of a mountain. No wonder Harry had been so happy there and couldn't wait to get back. Darla told herself as she followed Matthew into a boat with a red headed girl and mousy haired boy. She couldn't wait to start exploring, large castles had to have secret passages.

She heard the man say that there couldn't be more than four to a boat. He was so large that he took up one to himself. Once everyone was in a boat he yelled for them to go forward and the boats started to speed across the lake quickly. Darla looked at two others in the boat. The girl was very pale that her red hair seemed even more red. The other boy however looked very excited, he stared up at the castle with his mouth open.

At the other end they quickly got out after going through a dark tunnel that seemed to be under the castle and continued to follow the man. Darla wondered what his name was again, she knew Harry had told her and he had mentioned it the year before when he gave Harry his letter but she couldn't remember now. They followed him up stone steps to a door where he knocked three times loudly.

Darla grinned when she saw that it was Professor McGonagall who opened the door. Another familiar face and felt relieved to know someone else here. They followed her into the large entrance hall that made a lot of people gasp. It was larger than even the school ball room at Frances School for Girls and it was a large room. Darla had been amazed when she'd gone on the tour at Frances but this was even more amazing.

She forgot to stay neat Matthew now while she took everything in as they walked through the Entrance Hall. Darla heard voices coming from the doorway to the right and knew that had to be the Great Hall that Harry had told her about. She was in a different room from Harry in Hogwarts and he had no idea at all. He probably wasn't even thinking of her at the moment while he was sitting with his friends.

They were led into a small empty chamber, although it was small it was larger than her room and Dudley's put together. Now that they ahd stopped Darla looked around for Matthew but couldn't find him. She was between two boys who were staring at Professor McGonagall anxiously. A girl to the right was shivering so much that Darla thought she would collapse from fear. Darla saw that the red head and other boy from the boat still stood together, Darla thought the boy looked as though he would start bouncing from his excitement.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall began. "In a moment you will be sorted into your houses. Now this is very important because whichever house you are sorted in will be your home and family for the next seven years. You will eat with the rest of your house and you will have classes with the rest of your house. Most of your free time will be spent in your houses common room.

"Now the four houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. 'Each house has it's own noble history and has each produced outstand witches and wizards. While you are here at Hogwarts your triumphs will earn you house points while any rule-breaking will lose you house points.' At the end of the year the house cup is awarded to the house with the most points. I hope you'll all do your best in your house.

Now, the sorting ceremony will start in a few moments. Please take the time to smarten yourselves up."

She left through a door and Darla felt the excitement come back. She couldn't wait to meet the people who would be in her house, which she hoped to be Gryffindor. She hoped she wouldn't be stuck in Hufflepuff, according to Harry it was a house described as the house for Fuddy Duddies. He told her the Hufflepuff's were nice though. He told her that Ravenclaw usually took the smart people, and she knew she wouldn't be going there. She had never had decent enough marks in school. She knew it wouldn't be Slytherin since Harry had told her it only took Half-Bloods or Pure-Bloods.

Everyone was talking around her, some wondering how exactly they would be sorted. Darla wondered too, just how a hat could sort them. Moments later Professor McGonagall returned and told them to form a line and follow her. Darla stayed between the two boys and felt as though she would collapse as they followed her into what she assumed was the Great Hall. Darla had pictured it in her mind when Harry had described it, but her imagination hadn't even been close.

The room was lit by thousands of floating candles making it look cozy even though it was so large and amaxing looking. The ceiling looked like the night sky, a lot of the first years were staring and pointing up at it. There were four long house tables, Darla stared at them trying to locate Harry out of the hundreds of students. She had no idea which one was the Gryffindor table. On top of the tables were golden plates and goblets. They were led up to another long table that seemed to be reserved for the teachers.

Professor McGongall was setting a hat on a four legged stool. It was a very patched and dirty witch's hat. Everyone in the Great Hall was quiet and were staring at the hat. A rip in the brim of the hat opened and it began to sing:

Long long ago in centuries past,

The Hogwarts four did meet.

They thought to build a school at last

That taught of magical feats.

Each had a house formed in his name

That valued different traits.

The founders sorted the children that came,

And left the rest up to fate.

Gryffindor favored the gallant,

While Hufflepuff preferred the kind.

Ravenclaw wanted the talented.

Slytherin chose those cunning of mind.

When at last they thought their work was done,

One question still remained:

Who would choose the worthy ones

When they had passed away?

Godric Gryffindor then had a thought

That his hat could do the dividing.

And that's when I was magically taught

To do all the sorting and deciding.

So now please don't hesitate

To place me on your head.

I'll tell you where you will make

All of your best friends.

Hufflepuff or Gryffindor,

Ravenclaw or Slytherin,

I know that you'll adore

Whatever house I put you in!

After the hat sang it bowed to the four house tables before going silent. Professor McGongall stepped up and unrolled a piece of parchment.

"Now, when I call your name you'll come up and try on the hat, then you'll sit at your respected table."

Darla looked out at the students again. Where was Harry and had he noticed that she was up there yet?

"Anderson Rachel!" She called out.

A girl with black hair stepped out of the line and hurried to the stool. She sat down and pulled the hat on her nervously. It was very quiet for a moment before the hat called out:

RAVENCLAW!

Darla hoped it wouldn't take too long to get to the D's she couldn't wait to sit down, it felt like she had been standing for a very long time. After Creevey Colin, the mousy haired boy had been called it was finally her turn.

"Dursley, Darla!"

She saw the red headed girls mouth drop open who had been standing two people down from her as she stepped out of line. Darla hurried to the stool and picked up the hat. She sat down and put the hat on her head. It dropped covering her eyes and all she was was the inside of the hat.

"Ah, Potter's cousin." She heard a voice say. "It was very difficult sorting him, yes. I see, now a very rebelling mind here. You want to be an independent person, I also see the one thing you want most is a friend. I see a lot of loyalty and I could place you in Hufflepuff, you'd make your friends there. However, I think with your rebellious and independence it'd be fit to put you in:

GRYFFINDOR!"

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. If you are wondering why I didn't go more into Darla's first trip to Diagon Alley, it's because I've done so many first trips to Diagon Alley with other stories that I can't do it anymore without rushing it, which makes it look sloppy and lazy so I hope a summary was ok. Any questions ask in the forum.


	4. Chapter 4

"You're Harry's cousin, aren't you?"

Darla looked up. She'd been tying her shoe excited to start a day of classes. The girl she had seen the night before with the red hair was standing beside her. She now knew her name was Ginny Weasley, she was Harry's friends sister. Darla nodded and stood up.

"I'm glad he wasn't expelled for flying that car." Darla said. "He missed my sorting, I don't even think he knows I'm here yet."

"My mum isn't going to be happy they did that." Ginny said with a smile. "I can't _believe_ they did that. We got to the train station late so maybe they missed the train and thought they'd drive the car. Mum wasn't too happy when the twins and Ron used it to get Harry from your place."

Darla had trouble believing that Harry would want to drive or fly the car to school. He must have been a lot different from the boy she knew at home when he was at Hogwarts with his friends. She remembered the night before after the sorting. She'd been eating wondering where Harry was when people started whispering around her.

"You know Harry Potter? He was expelled for flying a car to school with his friend!"

Darla had barely eaten the rest of the night, she had finally gotten her dream and Harry wasn't even there to share it. Then later that night after the prefect who was also a Weasley led them to the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry and Ron both appeared happy. Darla had tried calling out his name to get to him but he ran to the boys dorms and disappeared.

Now it was the next morning, the first day of classes and Darla wanted him to see her that day. She hoped she would get a chance to talk to him. She wanted to know why he flew a car to school and she just really wanted to see him.

"How did you know who I was?" Darla asked as the two girls left the dormitory.

"Your name." She answered. "Harry told us about your parents and brother, how they didn't seem like to magic or him. He told us you were the only one in the house that would talk to him. He told us how you wished you could be a witch too."

Darla noticed she blushed a lot when she said Harry's name. They both realized that they had no idea how to get to the Great Hall so they followed a group of older girls out of the Common Room. Darla liked the Common Room it was very large and round with a lot of squashy arm chairs around the room. It looked like a really cozy place to be, she wondered what the Hufflepuff Common Room looked like since she almost ended up there.

She hoped talking to Ginny Weasley, whose older brother was best friends with Harry would help her chances in finding and talking to him quicker. They followed the girls all the way to the Great Hall. When they entered the Great Hall, Ginny pointed ahead where both Harry and Ron (Darla guessed it Ron, the boy had the same flaming red hair Ginny had) were just sitting down with a girl who had very bushy brown hair. They quickly made their way over to them. The girl was reading a book while Ron and Harry were looking around the Great Hall talking.

"Ahem." Ginny said.

Both boys looked up at them when the girls stopped across from them at the Gryffindor table. Ginny blushed when Harry looked at her and quickly took her seat. Harry's eyes fell on Darla and his mouth fell open.

"_Darla_?" Harry asked. "You're _here_? How?"

She was about to answer when a bunch of owls flew into the Great Hall, delivering everyone's mail. She stared up for a moment before looking back at Harry.

"It turns out I really am a witch." Darla answered trying to ignore the distraction. "I got a letter the day after you left. Mum and dad aren't pleased."

"No I expect they wouldn't be." Harry said. "I'm surprised that they let-"

"Oh no!" Ron exclaimed as a very old owl fell into some milk causing everyone to get wet.

"It's all right." Hermione said who had been staring at Darla while she and Harry talked. "He's still alive."

"It's not that- it's _that_!" Ron said.

Darla looked to where he was pointing and saw a red envelope. What could be wrong with an envelope? She looked at Harry for an explanation but he didn't seem to know either. He was looking at Ron and the envelope now, seeming to forget her while another boy was telling Ron to open it. Darla looked at Ginny now who was watching the envelope too with a very red face. Suddenly a loud sound filled the whole room making everything rattle on the tables and dust fall from the ceiling and walls. A loud shouting voice was echoing around the room:

"STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BENN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT UNTIL I GET A HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT HAD GONE, A LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE FROM SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD HAVE BOTH DIED, I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED, YOUR FATHER FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOW OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME!"

Darla felt shaky listening to the voice even though it had nothing to do with her. Ron, Ginny and Harry all had red faces. Ron had slumped so low in his chair so that only his forehead was visible. The girl closed her book and looked at Ron.

"Well, I don't know what you expected, Ron, but you-"

"Don't tell me I deserved it." Ron snapped.

Looking away Darla looked back at Harry who was still red in the face.

"So-so is this normal for Hogwarts?" She asked.

He smiled. "Almost." He answered. "Listen, you'll have to tell me what happened at lunch. I can't believe you are here. In the meantime, Ginny is friendly."

Ginny blushed even more than she already was when Harry looked at her. Darla had a feeling that Ginny liked her cousin a lot. Professor McGonagall was walking down the table handing out time tables. She gave Darla a small smile as she handed her her time table and kept moving down the table. Darla glanced back at Ginny who was staring at her time table, she looked happy to have a distraction.

"We're going to go." Harry told Darla. "We'll meet you back here at lunch."

"Come on." Ginny muttered to Darla, "The others are going."

They got up as the other first years got up. Darla saw the mousy haired boy talking to another boy about photo's. She thought she heard Harry's name a couple times. He was already moving down the table with Ron and the girl who Darla was now assuming was Hermione. There were three other girls and five boys in the Gryffindor first year. Darla didn't know all of there names yet.

"We have Lockhart first." A girl was saying in a dreamy voice to the two other girls. "He is so handsome."

"Lockhart?" Darla asked. "The man who wrote a lot of our books?"

"Yes." One of the girls said as if it was the most obvious. "He announced it at the book store _and_ last night."

"Yeah, and it was also in the Daily Prophet." One of the other girls piped up. "There is a picture of Harry Potter and Lockhart together!"

"_I_ cut it out!" The last girl exclaimed. "Hey, you two were talking to Harry this morning, I saw you when the Howler went off. What were you talking about?"

"Harry is my cousin." Darla said. "He didn't know I had come."

"He's not your cousin." The girl said laughing. "He has no family left."

"Yeah, except muggles who he lives with."

"Yes, and Darla is muggleborn." Ginny said. "Harry's muggleborn cousin. My older brother is best friends with him."

"You're a Weasley." One of the girls said in a sniffy voice. "I heard Harry is friends with the Weasley's."

"He was with them at the book store."

They stopped outside a classroom. The three girls introduced themselves as Patty Young, Sheila Kerpin and Julie Timmins. There was already another group of first years standing there. Glancing at them, Darla figured they were the Slytherin's. They had a crest with a snake on their robes.

"So, if you really are his cousin, how come he didn't know you're a witch?" Patty asked.

"He went to the Weasley's for the summer and my letter came when he was gone." Darla answered. "We didn't really get a chance to talk this morning."

The girls giggled. "That was funny. I hope I never get a Howler, that would be just dreadful." Sheila said. "You're so lucky to be his cousin."

The door opened and a very handsome man stepped out, he motioned for them to follow him. The three girls seemed to fight over who would sit next Darla, leaving Ginny behind. Ginny chose the desk behind Darla. Patty and Sheila sat on either side of Darla so Julie sat with Ginny. Instantly the two girls began bombarding Darla with questions about Harry. Darla could hear Julie asking Ginny what it was like to have Harry stay at her house for the summer.

"Quiet, quiet please. For those who don't know and I don't see how that's possible I am Gilderoy Lockhart, your professor for the year." The man said moving to the front. "I know this is your first year but you'll still face your most dreaded fears in this class. When the year is over you'll be ready for your third year instead of your second."

Darla thought the man seemed to be a little over confident as he began telling them more about how great he was. She saw that Sheila and Patty seemed to be following his every word. She had to admit that he was a very handsome teacher, she had expected only ugly teachers at Hogwarts. In story books witches and wizards were always ugly.

"Now, I thought today we'd start with a quiz. Don't worry first years this isn't to test your strength in this class yet… no this is to test how well you've read my books. I wouldn't give you a test you couldn't do."

Darla felt some relief, she had read a lot of his books over the summer time while hiding in her room. She wished she had read them more thoroughly but she hadn't expected a test on the first day of school. He was already handing out the test papers. A lot of people were looking around alarmed.

"I haven't even read the books." A boy in Slytherin was whispering.

'Don't worry, he's a fraud." His friend whispered back.

Darla took her test paper he gave her and blushed when he stared into her eyes. She looked at Patty who was staring at Lockhart with a very dreamy look on her face. Darla looked back at her test paper and noticed that the whole test wasn't about Lockhart's books, but about himself. She didn't know most of these answers, since she hadn't paid attention to the parts where he had said what his favourite colours were. Why was this significant? She wondered.

She noticed all of the boys in the class were scowling at the test paper, some of the Slytherin boys weren't even writing anything on the paper. Darla started filling in the answers that she did know.

"Why is this important?" She asked Patty.

"It's to have an understanding of who our teacher really is." Patty answered. "We have to have him for seven years you know. A lot of our teachers will just start teaching without caring whether we feel comfortable with them or not."

"Oh." Darla said still not getting it, she'd have to ask Harry what he thought.

He collected the tests a half hour later and was disappointed that no one in the class seemed to get the whole test paper correct.

"Why a lot of you didn't even do the test! What is this test paper with drawings of someone being tortured? Who did this? It looks like _me_ being tortured, but I know it can't be." Lockhart was saying. "No, this is very disappointing. I guess I can understand with this being your first year though, you're nervous. I understand. So, we'll spend the lesson reading out of my first book We'll take turns."

--

"Hi Harry!" Darla said sitting in front of him in the Great Hall, she was aware that Patty, Sheila and Julie were watching.

"Hello." He said. "How were your classes?"

"Good." She answered. "Yours?"

"They were all right. Couldn't do a thing in transfiguration though." He said. "We were supposed to turn beetles into buttons. Only Hermione could do it. I haven't introduced you yet have I? Hermione this is Darla, my cousin, Darla Hermione my friend." Harry said nodding at the girl with very bushy brown hair and large teeth. "And Ron this is Darla."

"Hello." Ron said moodily.

"Nice to meet you." Darla said. "I had Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms first."

"Really?" Hermione asked her now interested. "How was Lockhart? We have him this afternoon."

"He was er- very nice. We did a test and read one of his books." Darla said.

After lunch Darla followed Harry out of the Great Hall as he motioned for her to come. She looked around for Ginny and realized she had disappeared right after Charms to go to the Common room but she never came back. Darla hoped that she hadn't got lost. She mentioned this to Ron as he was her brother.

"She'll be fine." Ron said. "She probably just forgot a book or something."

"So what happened when you got your letter?" Harry asked Darla impatiently. "What did your parents do?"

"They started to fight, dad was saying it was your fault." Darla answered. "But I told him it wasn't."

"I knew he'd blame me. If Dudley was a wizard that'd be my fault too." Harry answered in a dark voice. "_Everything_ is my fault."

"Then they talked about it some more. It's awful Harry, the only reason they let me come is because they thought that giant man would come back." Darla said. "But Dudley is calling me a freak and mum and dad won't look at me. They said I can go home for Christmas if I want but I don't have to and you aren't allowed home until summer."

"That's fine; I wasn't going back until summer anyway." Harry said. "If I could I would _never_ go back."

"And they said I have to pay my way through school. They paid for my first year, but after this year I'll have to get a job." Darla continued.

"I told you that you wouldn't want to be a witch." Harry said. "I know they are your parents Darla, but they just aren't understanding when something isn't right."

Harry looked away from her to where a boy had appeared. It was the boy who Darla knew was now named Colin Creevey, the one who was excited about everything. He was staring from Harry to Darla. He was holding on to a camera now and was almost bouncing again as he stared at Harry with awe.

"Are you really cousins?" he asked breathlessly.

"Yes." Darla said. "This is Harry, Colin."

"I know who he is!" Colin said excitedly. "I've heard all about you Harry. I'm Colin Creevey, I'm in Gryffindor too. I was wondering, could I have a picture and and Darla could be in it to if you want!"

"A picture?" Harry asked in disbelief.

Colin nodded with excitement while Darla flushed with embarrassment, well aware that people around them were listening. Colin began telling them about his father being muggle so he wanted to get a lot of photos for him. Ron and Hermione were just staring at him with small smirks on their faces, as if this amused them. When Colin mentioned getting a signed photo from Harry another voice called out:

"_Signed_ _photos_? You're giving out _signed photos_ Potter?"

The voice came from the boy whose father had helped her with her trunk on the train. He was laughing and had two huge boys with him. Darla backed away slowly, poor Harry. She didn't want to be there any longer but she also wanted to help him. She glanced at her watch and saw that luch was almost over, she would see Harry later that night.

"Er, I'm going to go look for my class now." She said quickly. "I'll see you tonight Harry."

"Another girlfriend Potter?" Draco asked.

Darla hurried away quickly; she could see Sheila, Patty and Julie across the court yard so she went over to them. They greeted her when she joined them and knew they had been just talking about her. She had a feeling they had come out just to watch her talk to Harry, just to see if they really were cousins.

"Hello." She said. "So, ready for History of Magic? Harry told me it's taught by a ghost."

"Yes, and I heard it's dreadfully boring." Julie said. "But you can tell us some more about Harry in class."

--

Darla soon got into the routine of life at Hogwarts quickly. After her first week at Hogwarts she wrote home to her parents telling them everything, she hoped she would get a response back. She enjoyed all of her classes, including History of Magic which she didn't find as boring as the rest of the students did, she found the history of the wizarding world interesting.

Her favourite class was Herbology. The plants were different than what she was use to but she noticed that she had a green thumb for magical plants as well as the plants at home. They were replanting singing flowers at the moment. She felt jealous of Harry who told her that they were working with plants called Mandrakes. When she asked what a mandrake was Hermione quickly explained to her what it was while Ron rolled his eyes.

"And they really look like babies and cry like ones?" Darla asked. "That's neat. The singing flowers are nice too though."

"Oh yes they are meant to relax someone who is very stressed." Hermione said. "I enjoyed working with them and they smell good too. Have you turned a match into a pin in Transfiguration yet?"

"Yes, I did it the second day. Ginny did it after a few turns though, she seems to know what she is doing. She is good at Potions too, but the teacher Professor Snape doesn't seem to like us or the Hufflepuffs."

"Snape favours his own house." Harry told her.

She enjoyed Astronomy as well, on Thursday nights all the first years went to the top of the highest tower to study the constellations. What got to Darla the most were the ghosts at Hogwarts. They were very friendly, unlike the ghosts stories said in the muggle world. The only time they were scary was when they popped through a wall at you unexpectedly. The ghost of Gryffindor was named Nearly Headless Nick. Darla hadn't met him but she wanted to just to see why he was named Nearly Headless. She had thought about asking Harry but didn't know if he even knew. He still didn't know a lot about the wizarding world it turned out.

Then there were the girls in her dorm. She talked to them all very often, even though she enjoyed Ginny's company the most. Ginny seemed very secretive from day one, she was always disappearing to the dorm for very long periods of time. Darla and Patty discovered after a couple days it was because she was writing in a diary.

"Should we steal it and see why she writes in it so much?" Julie asked after Darla revealed this to her and Sheila.

"No!" Sheila and Patty said at the same time.

"When a girl writes in a diary a lot you leave her alone." Sheila said. "You do not ask questions, and you do _not_ steal it. I mean how would you like it if I went snooping through yours?"

"Ok, ok you're right." Julie muttered.

"Dudley, my brother did that to me once when I was nine." Darla said shaking her head. "It was horrible, he read it to his friends. I haven't kept one since. And anyway, some people like to write a lot about their life in detail when they are young so they can have something to look back on when they are older."

"Why wouldn't you just get a pensieve?" Julie asked. "You'd see a lot more than you would in a diary."

"What's a pensieve?" Darla asked.

"Those are expensive." Patty said at the same time.

"Let's just not worry about it." Sheila said. "If Ginny wanted us to know she would tell us, but we haven't even known each other for that long. She probably likes some boy anyway, that's probably who she is writing about. My older sister was like that too, she was the one who told me to leave girls alone when they are secretive with their diaries."

Darla agreed and hadn't like Julie's idea in the first place. She didn't care that Ginny was spending a lot of time writing in her diary. Darla had thought at first that Ginny hadn't wanted to be friends, but it turned out it wasn't true. Darla was happy to finally be in a place where she was accepted. The three girls no longer wanted to just talk to her because of Harry, they liked talking to her just to be her friend. They still asked Darla to introduce them to Harry.

"I will, but you can't act the way Colin does him." Darla answered once. "He doesn't like that. He likes to be treated like anyone else."

Darla didn't think they were quite ready yet. They were nice girls, but they seemed the type that would go to Frances School for Girls and actually enjoy it. They acted very ditzy at times especially when it came to Harry, which was why Darla preferred Ginny. Ginny just blushed when he was mentioned and changed the subject, she didn't start giggling and start asking strange questions, like if Darla had ever seen Harry's underwear.

--

"Darla, would you like to come meet Hagrid with me today?" Ginny asked Darla at the end of their first week as she brushed her teeth in the bathroom.

"Sure, Hagrid is the hairy giant isn't he?" Darla asked.

"Yes, well I'm not sure if he is a giant but he sure is big isn't he?" Ginny answered.

"I know Harry talks to him a lot." Darla said. "When are we going?"

"After lunch, we have Friday afternoons off so I thought it'd be the best time."

Darla spit some tooth paste in the sink and then washed the sink out as Sheila, Patty and Julie came into the bathroom giggling. They were whispering and Darla thought they might have been talking about Gilderoy Lockhart since they all had dreamy looks on their faces.

"What was it like?" Julie asked.

"His hand was so warm." Patty answered.

"Whose?" Darla asked curiously.

"Professor Lockhart's." Sheila said. "He touched Patty's shoulder."

Darla giggled too, but not for the same reason they were laughing. She thought it was very silly to have such a reaction about him touching Patty's shoulder. She left the bathroom with Ginny following behind, leaving the girls to fantasize.

"Do you want them to come along as well?" Darla asked Ginny.

"No." She answered. "They wouldn't even if we asked."

So that afternoon Darla followed Ginny to Hagrids hut. She knew he was the groundskeeper there but she hadn't known he actually lived at the school. Ginny was walking fast over to his place so Darla had to run to keep up. They saw him just outside walking to what looked like a garden. As they got closer, Darla saw it was a garden with very big pumpkins in it.

"Well hello Ginny, Darla." Hagrid said spotting them. "What are you up to."

"Oh, um just having a look at the grounds." Ginny said. 'What are you up to?"

"Checkin' up on my pumpkins." Hagrid answered. "I'm trying to keep the slugs away, should be big enough by halloween."

"Looks like you used an engorgement charm on them." Ginny replied moving closer. "But they do look good I suppose."

"Why so many?" Darla asked. "And why are they so big?"

"I'm usin 'em for the feast. You two will enjoy that. How's Harry doin' haven't seen him yet." Hagrid said.

"Good, he's trying to stay out of trouble. You know, with the car incident and all." Darla answered.

"Well tell him, Ron and Hermione to come visit me. Would you two like to come in fer some tea?" Hagrid asked.

Ginny nodded eagerly and they followed him into his hut. It was very small inside, it had a bed in one corner of the room and a fireplace in the other. There was also a table that Ginny and Darla took seats at while Hagrid began making them some tea.

"Been hopin' to meet you o' course Darla." Hagrid began. "Harry told me you were the on'y decent one in your family."

"He said that? When?" Darla asked feeling flattered.

"When I took him to Diagon Alley last year." Hagrid answered placing a steaming mug in front of her. "Told me a lot about yer family, said yeh were the on'y one he liked. If I hadn't met them fer myself last year…"

"They aren't too happy about me being a witch." Darla said. "I was hoping maybe since I was one they would be ok with it since I am their daughter, and then change their minds about Harry."

"Maybe they will." Hagrid said but didn't sound as if he believed it.

A/N: I know I didn't quite get Hagrid down but it's hard to do. Any questions, go to the forum.


	5. Chapter 5

"How was your detention with Lockhart?" Darla asked Harry, Sunday morning.

Harry had finally had his detention for flying the car with Ron to Hogwarts the night before. He'd had it with Lockhart and Darla knew that Harry did not like Lockhart at all. She wasn't entirely sure she liked him either; he seemed too full of himself for her liking. Harry was staring at his plate looking very tired, so did Ron. He'd had his detention as well.

"Boring, he made me write the addresses on envelopes to his fans all night." Harry said. "Wouldn't think it was possible for him to have so many."

"We're you out that late? You look so tired." Darla said.

He nodded. "Almost until midnight, but I couldn't sleep last night anyway. I-I heard a voice but he didn't seem to hear it." He answered and then lowered his voice some more. "It- it said it wanted to kill someone."

"What? No, it couldn't have. Maybe you were just very tired. I mean if Lockhart didn't hear it."

"That's not it." Harry muttered. "I wish it were, but it's not."

"Oh." Darla said not feeling entirely convinced. "Well maybe Lockhart was too busy with his fan mail that he just didn't hear it. Maybe someone who knew you were having detention was trying to scare you."

The owls came into the Great Hall and Darla was surprised and pleased to get a letter. It dropped onto the plate of bacon on the table. Darla quickly grabbed it happy that her parents had finally written back. She knew they would, maybe they were finally accepting the fact that she couldn't help who she was and they would be nicer to both her and Harry.

She opened the envelope quickly and pulled a letter. Her heart dropped when she saw what was written on the letter though.

_Darla_,

_Please do not write to us about what you are doing at that school. Please try to stay out of trouble, we do not want to hear about it and we don't want owls in this house more than necessary. Tell that to your cousin as well._

_Your parents._

Darla read through it again before getting up and running from the Great Hall causing Harry to call after her. She ran until she found a girls bathroom and went inside to cry inside of it. She leaned against a wall as she cried hard. She wished now that she hadn't been a witch. It wasn't fair for her parents to be this way to her or Harry. Why couldn't they accept her for who she was?

"Darla?"

Darla looked up to see Ginny standing over her. She looked concerned she sat down beside her.

"Harry sent Hermione and me out to look for you." Ginny said. "So what did your parents write to you about?"

Darla wiped her tears away and handed Ginny the letter. Ginny read through it and looked at her with pity. She leaned over to hug her as Hermione entered the bathroom. Ginny handed the letter over to Hermione to read as well who sat down on Darla's other side.

"Oh Darla, I'm sorry." Hermione said. "I can't believe they'd treat their own daughter this way."

"I don't get it. Dad knew I was a witch." Darla said. "He loved me until I got my letter. He knew the whole time and he neglected Harry but he loved me."

"Maybe he just didn't want to believe it." Ginny said. "And if he wanted to keep it from your mother like you told me, then maybe he had to love you. They both knew Harry was a wizard so it was easier for them to be mean to him."

"You'd think with their daughter being one they'd change." Hermione said. "I mean your aunt was a witch, Harry is a wizard and now you're a witch. It'd make sense for them to realize that it isn't bad but good."

"They don't like anything to be out of the ordinary. They didn't like it if even Dudley or I played pretend but when Harry did it… they just think everything should be normal. Mum has never been happy with me though. I've never been the perfect good mannered little girl she wanted. She once told me I was almost like her sister." Darla muttered wiping away her tears.

"Come on." Hermione said softly. "Harry will want to know what happened."

Darla stood up feeling anger now and wondered if she should even bother going home for Christmas. She decided she would worry about it when the time came. They left the bathroom to find Harry and Ron both waiting outside of it. Darla handed the letter to Harry who read it. He crumpled it into a ball and set it on fire, than he hugged Darla. She was glad that she had him to help her; he already knew what it was like.

--

There were times when Darla wanted to start writing home again but she always stopped herself when she remembered the letter. Instead she focused on her school work. She noticed Ginny was spending more and more time writing in her diary so she was spending a lot of time in the library when she didn't want to sit with the three other girls.

She'd also become a target for Colin Creevey who insisted on asking as many questions as he could about Harry. He's already snapped two pictures of her telling her he needed pictures of Harry's cousin as well. She spent a lot of time avoiding him and a school ghost that liked torturing students. Whenever he saw her he would throw things at her and laugh. She soon learned he was Peeves the Poltergeist. Harry told her that he had gotten lost on his first day of school because of Peeves.

September went by quickly and soon they were into October. Sheila, Patty and Julie insisted on decorating their dorm for Halloween. At night when trying to sleep all Darla could hear was the wailing of a toy banshee. She wished she knew a spell that could make it quiet. She wondered if Hermione did, she was good at magic. But one night after a week of the Banshee's wailing Darla went up to the dorm to find that it was destroyed and lying on Sheila's bed. She smiled to herself knowing that it had been Ginny who had done it.

Ginny had been feeling sick and had told Darla not to mention it to her brothers, but Percy the older brother seemed to notice and made her go to the hospital wing to drink a potion. Darla laughed at her seeing smoke steam from her ears because with her flaming red hair it made it seem as if her whole head was on fire.

"Shut up Darla." Ginny said with a weak grin. "Because I'll tell Harry that you're sick and I know he'll make you drink some too. I wasn't even sick it was stress."

"You looked sick." Darla said. "I don't."

"Yes I guess so, and with four older brothers I can't even be tired without one of them thinking I am sick." Ginny answered grouchily. "I've just been tired and stressed from homework. I didn't know we'd have so much all the time. Fred and George made it seem as if Hogwarts was all fun and games."

"With those two it seems everything is all fun and games." Darla said. "I wonder if all twin boys are like that. I had twin boys in my class at home and they were always pulling pranks."

"I don't know, but I wish it would stop raining so much." Ginny muttered. "I hate being stuck inside all the time."

Darla liked Ginny's twin brothers, Fred and George. They always seemed to know how to make everyone laugh. They some how knew what the letter she had received from her parents was about because they had spent the day trying to make her laugh afterwards and she had barely known them. She just had known that they were in their fourth year and Ginny's older twin brothers, who also had red hair.

She still liked to try and talk to Matthew but it seemed he had lost interest in her long ago. He was always with the same two boys studying the library; they always got angry when she interrupted them. He only talked to her if he had a question about Herbology since she was one of the best in the year for Herbology. She wished she could be Ginny who seemed to be good in almost all the classes and she didn't even try.

"Harry, would it be ok if I watched on of your Quidditch practices sometime?" Darla asked. "I don't really get the game and I don't want to wait until next month to see a match. I've never seen anyone fly a broomstick."

"Go ahead." He answered. "People come to watch all the time."

She knew he was worried about Quidditch at the moment. She didn't know much about flying broomsticks, but she knew that at one time Harry had the best broom stick there was. The whole Slytherin players apparently had the newest best broomsticks now and were very fast. The rest of the Gryffindor team's broomsticks weren't as great as the Harry's. She didn't know what Quidditch was except it was a sport played on broomsticks and she couldn't wait to see a game.

It was always rainy whenever the Gryffindor team had practice so Darla wasn't able to go out when she wanted to. Sheila, Patty and Julie had told her to let them know when she was going to watch because they wanted to watch as well. She made a note to herself to sneak out of the Common room when the weather would finally allow her to watch a practice.

She visited Hagrid often as well, with or without Ginny. They often had conversations about her parents and Harry's parents. She often found herself trying to defend her parents and brother's actions. She didn't like to hear anyone, unless it was Harry say rude things about her family. She knew that Harry had every right to say what he did about her parents because they had never given him a chance. The short arguments she had with Hagrid didn't stop her from wanting to visit him.

--

"You're going to a _Death Day_ party?" Darla asked. "Does that mean a ghost is actually celebrating the day he died?"

"Yes." Harry answered. "It could be very-er- interesting."

"Whose party is it?" Darla asked. "What about the Halloween feast? I've heard those are exciting!"

"They are, but I promised." Harry said, the tone of his voice sounded as though he were regretting his decision. "It's for Nearly Headless Nick he helped me get out of detention."

"Why is he called that anyway?"

"His head wasn't cut all the way off. It always hangs on by half an inch of skin." Harry answered. "If you'd like you could come too."

"Um, no thanks." Darla answered quickly. "It's my first feast at Hogwarts, Ginny and I have been looking forward to it since we seen Hagrid's pumpkins."

"I'm glad to see you and Ginny have become good friends." Harry said. "I think it's something you both needed. She's really shy."

She knew Harry couldn't be talking about the same Ginny that she knew. Ginny was a lot of things, but shy wasn't one of them. She'd already made a lot of friends with the people in their year. She wished that what Harry had said about the two of them being good friends was true, but Darla wasn't sure if it was. Ginny seemed rather secretive, she and Darla did a lot of things together but Ginny never told her anything. Darla didn't know much about friendship so she wondered if it was because they had only met just two months ago.

She couldn't believe her cousin preferred to go to a party for a ghost rather than eat delicious food with the rest of the school. His two friends were also joining him. When she mentioned this information to Ginny, she just laughed.

"I can't see Ron being at a party for too long that doesn't have food- well it has food but not food he'd want to eat." Ginny said giggling. "Or Harry really, I've seen the he eats."

"There will be _food_ there? How do ghosts eat?" Darla asked in shock. "I didn't think they could."

"They don't. I don't know how they do it, but usually they serve food that's all rotted and gross. I suppose maybe they can almost taste it? That would probably be something to ask Hermione, she'd know." Ginny answered with a shrug. "I know I'll be at the feast enjoying _fresh_ non maggoty food."

Darla nodded in agreement; glad she hadn't agreed to go to a Death Day's party. "I heard they booked _skeletons_ to put on a show for us, is that true? How does that work?"

"They did. Don't worry; skeletons don't just walk around from their graves. They are charmed to do that and it's watched carefully by the Ministry." Ginny answered. "But it sounds exciting, I've only heard of it from my brothers."

However, the day of the feast Ginny was acting strangely. She was fine in the morning and afternoon; the two of them did homework with Patty, Sheila and Julie in the afternoon. When it was almost time for the feast, Ginny told Darla that she wanted to lay down for a bit and she'd meet Darla as the feast. She looked rather pale and Darla wondered if she should mention this to Percy Weasley. When it was time for the feast Darla found Ginny sleeping on her bed looking peaceful so Darla just let her be and when with Colin instead.

"Can you believe they are actually bringing skeletons?" Colin asked her as she left the Common Room with him. "I've heard the food at the feasts is usually excellent. Why doesn't Ginny go to the hospital wing? She is going to miss her first feast!"

"She's seemed tired a lot lately though." Darla answered. "Maybe she'll wake up in time."

"And Harry is going to a Death Day party? That is neat, I wish I was invited! A party for ghosts seems really exciting doesn't it?" Colin continued.

Darla noticed he was very talkative and wondered how the boys could stand all his questions. She noticed he was with the four boys in Gryffindor first year a lot when he wasn't watching Harry from behind a chair in the Common Room.

"Where are Ted, Greg, Peter and Mark anyway?" She asked instead of answered his questions.

"Already there, I think. I am going to meet them, but I wanted to write to my dad first. I'm going to take some pictures of the Great Hall for him to see. I saw the teachers working on it earlier and it looks neat!" Colin said excitedly. "Oh and guess what! The pictures I got that sixth year to take of us first year Gryffindor's together are ready. If you want one let me know."

Darla smiled and nodded, she didn't want to admit it but she wanted one. A week ago, Colin had decided he wanted pictures of the first year Gryffindor's all together. He said he would take one every year. The rest of the Gryffindor first years only agreed to get him off their backs but they had laughed about it behind his back later. She thought it would be neat to have a picture of them all together from first to seventh year. She wasn't sure how he had gotten a sixth year boy to agree to take all the pictures though. Most of the older students seemed annoyed by his entire picture taking.

They entered the Great Hall and hurriedly took their seats with the rest of the Gryffindor first years. Darla looked around for Harry to see if he changed his mind or not, but neither he Ron or Hermione were around.

"Ginny is still sick?" Sheila asked Darla.

Darla nodded. "She must be, yes."

"She's been so pale lately." Patty said. "I do hope she's ok."

"Why doesn't she just go to the hospital wing?" Julie asked. "She'd be feeling better and having a feast tonight."

"She does what she does." Darla answered with a shrug.

At the moment, Professor Dumbledore the headmaster stood up. Instantly the room was quiet. Darla noticed from the first day that all Professor Dumbledore had to do was stand up to get the students to quiet down. Everyone seemed to hold a great deal of respect for him, especially Harry.

"Welcome old and new to another Halloween feast here at Hogwarts. Tonight, we have a special show for you. I would like you all to welcome 'The Rattling Bones!'" He called out.

Darla hadn't noticed at first but in front of the teachers table there was a long black platform set up. Strange music came from the front of the room and five skeletons came out of the chamber where Darla had been in before her sorting. They had on black top hats and black bows. One was holding a cane. They lined up on the platform and began dancing, holding hands.

Than something strange happened. They all seemed to fall apart, hundreds of bones lay all over the stage. Than slowly they started to go back together but in the wrong places. One Skeleton had its head where a foot should be. Another was all together but its head. It had another skeletons head along with its own and was juggling the two heads, before another threw its head at it so it was juggling three.

They all went back together again before they went into a five person (or in their case skeleton) pyramid. The skeleton that was in the middle bottom roll seemed to shudder and than the whole pyramid collapsed causing bones to fly every where.

Everywhere people were laughing. Beside her, Colin was snapping as many pictures as he could with his camera. When she glanced at him, she saw that he had already gone through two rolls of film. The Skeletons did their dance for fifteen more minutes before bowing and leaving the stage. After Professor Dumbledore thanked them and everyone gave them a standing ovation the feast started. Delicious food appeared all around them.

Darla was able to take in the rest of the Great Hall. Hagrid had his pumpkins all in the Great Hall and carved like lanterns. Darla also noticed there were live bats in the room as well. Some of the candles that usually floated around the Great Hall were forming messages, such as Happy Halloween or Trick or Treat.

"Wow, I hope I got another pictures." Colin said. "Could you believe those Skeletons? How did they know which bones were their own?"

"It's too bad Ginny is missing this." Darla said.

"Well, I'll give her some pictures." Colin said. "The food is delicious but I'd go without if I could see the dance again."

"I wish there weren't bats in here." Julie said looking up. "It's not very hygienic is it?"

"It looks neat." Sheila said. "As long as they don't start swooping at us, it's fine."

"And look just how clear the night is." Patty continued. "It looks like we can see eons and eons into space. It's as if there is no roof at all."

"That's my favourite part about the Great Hall." Darla agreed. "I love that it's bewitch to look like the sky."

She still couldn't believe that Harry and his friends were missing this for a ghost's party. When the main courses were over, the desserts appeared. Darla wanted to try as many of the desserts as she possibly could. When the desserts were over they were to go back to their Common Rooms.

Darla joined the girls who were talking about Professor Lockhart again. She agreed with them that he was very handsome but she didn't understand how they thought he was a good teacher. He had promised them hands on experience but ever since he had set pixies on Harry's second year class he hadn't done anything but read from his books. When Darla had asked Ron Weasley what a pixie was he muttered 'Annoying little creatures that shouldn't ever be set free by someone who doesn't know what he's doing' and he wouldn't go more into the subject.

"Why are people stopping?" Darla asked the girls who shrugged.

She pushed her way through the crowd as someone shouted: "Enemies of the heir beware; you'll be next mud bloods!"

Darla got to the front of everyone to see Draco Malfoy grinning at written words on the wall that said:

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED.

ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.

Underneath them was Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's cat, dead. The people in the middle shocked Darla the most, standing as if they had just been caught were Harry, Ron and Hermione.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed. This chapter took about a week to write because I wasn't sure what to do with it. I actually wanted more time between the last chapter and the feast but you know what writers block can do. Needless to say, this chapter was very hard to write.

I have no idea when the next chapter will be up since the first five were already written up and I still have writers block.

Also, I noticed I didn't do a very good job at editing the first four chapters so I'll be doing that as well. I thought I had but I noticed certain mistakes, such as tale instead of tail.

Please review.


	6. Chapter 6

Darla wished more than ever that she could write home to her parents for some words of comfort, but even if her parents still treated her as their daughter they wouldn't be able to help her. She'd lost her two sources of comfort as well; both Harry and Ginny were panic stricken. More Ginny than Harry, and he'd been caught near the cat even though it hadn't been him.

There was panic around the whole castle. She noticed Sheila, Patty and Julie never wanted to leave hers and Ginny's sides but Darla didn't mind. She felt better having more people around her. She'd learned what a 'mudblood' was and it was her. Someone who was muggleborn, someone with no magical parents. If what the Malfoy boy had said was true, she could be next.

Ginny barely talked to anyone these days. She was upset about the cat that turned out not to be dead but petrified, it could be saved. She was also terrified that Harry and Ron would be chucked out of school for being caught in the scene of the crime. No one suspected Hermione since she was muggleborn and not too many suspected Ron either. Everyone seemed to believe that Harry was the culprit but Darla knew better. She'd known her cousin her whole life; he wouldn't hurt anyone on purpose.

"Harry's cousin, mother and best friend are muggleborn." Darla said to Ginny. "How could they suspect him?"

"I know." Ginny said is a stuffy voice, as if she were ready to cry. "And most of them know that he saved the Philosophers stone last year from you-know-who… or I guess Quirrel who was trying to steal."

"Harry's never really told me that story. I've just heard of it." Darla said. "But why are people being so dumb about this then?"

Ginny shrugged her shoulders. "They'll believe anything, it's the best solution for them."

Darla remembered finding Ginny still asleep in bed when they arrived back to the dormitory, Julie Sheila and Patty all crying. Ginny had awakened and Darla had told her everything. Ginny started to cry and lay back down. Later Ginny told Darla that she had woken up to go to the feast but she must have fallen back to sleep instead.

"You really should go to the hospital wing than." Darla had told her. "Quit avoiding it, you're making yourself even sicker."

Ginny had taken her advice but still looked a little sick, but Darla figured it was because of the attack on the cat. She hadn't had a problem with the cat but according to the older students if someone broke a rule around her, she would immediately get the caretaker Argus Filch, her owner who would then put you in detention. So a lot of students were happy that the cat was gone. Ginny was a big cat lover.

"Do you think they will come and get _you_?" Julie asked Darla.

"Maybe it was just a one time thing." Sheila said. "You know, it was Halloween… maybe they were just trying to scare people."

"Yeah maybe!" Patty agreed. "I heard about some secret chamber at Hogwarts you know. It was supposed to be scary…"

"But to petrify a cat to scare people?" Darla asked. "Isn't that going too far?"

"It could have been someone who has a real grudge against her… a lot of people do." Julie answered.

"That's really dark magic though." Sheila said.

"Yeah and the Chamber is suppose to be Slytherin's… so, an older student in Slytherin decided to scare everyone!" Julie said.

"Yeah that makes sense." Patty said excitedly. "Because remember that Malfoy boy? He was so excited about it. The Slytherin's are probably having a good laugh about it right now."

"That could be true." Darla said. Remembering what she had heard about the Slytherin's. and she had seen for herself. Any one of them could have decided to harm a cat, no one but the caretaker would care anyway.

"We should tell Ginny what we think." Julie said. "This has had the worst effect on her."

Darla however went to Harry about it, he needed cheering up. She figured he should know that everyone else would see it that way too and stop blaming him for it. He however shook his head after she told him this.

"No one, not even the Slytherin's would go that far for a prank." He said.

"I don't know." Ron said. "A lot of the Slytherin's have been a lot happier lately. Anyone of them could have-"

"But you are forgetting the voice." Harry argued.

"The voice?" Darla asked.

"Yes, I heard the voice right before the attack. That's why we were there in the first place. Just don't tell anyone." Harry said.

"But it might be a clue." Darla said. "It might be important for Professor Dumbledore to know!"

Harry didn't answer; he just went back to his chess game. She didn't want to, but she decided to keep his secret for him no matter how important she thought it was. She decided not even to mention it to Ginny, Ginny was terrified as it was. She figured it would make everyone think Harry was mad anyway.

--

Darla found herself walking to the scene of the crime every day. She re-read the words a lot, terrified now knowing why the house-elf had warned Harry not to go back to Hogwarts. She just wondered how it knew that this was going to happen. Was it the house-elf's masters doing it? She wondered.

"Why do you have to keep going over here?" Ginny asked Darla one evening as she turned down the corridor that would take them to where the cat had been found.

"Do you know what the Chamber of Secrets is?" Darla asked as they stopped in front of the words.

"I've heard of it." Ginny said staring up at the foot long words that still shone. "But I don't know what it is. Please, can we go? I can't stand being here."

"Do you think Hermione knows what it is?" Darla asked turning away. "I'd like to know what it is. The whole school is blaming this on Harry."

"I know." Ginny said quietly. "I really hope they don't expelled. Darla, I really don't want to talk about it, ok? Talk to Hermione if you want to but I just…"

Ginny didn't finish, she turned and walked away. Darla stared after her wondering if she should follow or not. After a few moments, she turned away and wondered where Harry was. Hermione had been acting strange lately, Darla knew that. She'd notice the night before while working with Sheila, Patty and Julie that Harry, Ron and Hermione seemed to know something, or were confused about something.

She walked past a couple ghosts who were talking seriously about the attack on Mrs. Norris. They smiled at her she walked past them. She waved, and kept going.

"Why are you wandering around by yourself?" Someone asked.

Darla turned around to see who was talking to her but saw no one. She felt chills, wondering if it was the person who had attacked Mrs. Norris. A few moments later, someone stepped out of the wall behind her and she jumped.

"How did you do that?" She gasped as she realized it was Percy Weasley.

"It's a doorway." He answered. "It just looks like a solid wall. It is very useful for us prefects to keep an eye on trouble makers." He suddenly looked stern. "It is not a good idea for anyone to be wandering on their own. Come on, I'll take you back to the Common Room. Make sure you are always with a friend. It is getting late anyway, it's almost curfew."

"I was with Ginny, but she is really upset right now." Darla answered as Percy put a firm hand on her shoulder and steered her into the doorway that looked like a solid wall.

"Yes I know." Percy said. "Ron and Harry aren't helping either."

"Why? What did they do?" Darla asked.

"I found them in the corridor- you know, where it happened and they were coming out of a girl's bathroom. They are trying to solve this themselves. They've already got a strike against them with the car." Percy answered. "They'll get themselves expelled if they aren't careful. Maybe _you_ could talk to Harry, Darla. He seemed fond of you during the summer. Said you were the only in that house he liked." Percy answered as they walked up a flight of steps.

"Maybe. Percy, you've been here for five years. What is the Chamber of Secrets? Do you know?"

"I do know, but prefects aren't allowed to give that information to the students, especially first years. Everyone is scared as it is. You would be better not knowing." Percy said sternly again.

"I'd feel better if I knew." Darla answered.

"Well here we are." Percy said ignoring her last words as they stopped in front of the portrait of the fat lady in front of Gryffindor tower. "Please stay here and do not wander around by yourself anymore. I have to get back to my duties. Please be careful not to say too much about the Chamber of Secrets to Ginny."

Darla muttered goodbye and gave the password before going in. Once in the Common Room, she saw Harry, Hermione and Ron sitting alone together talking seriously. She hoped she wasn't disturbing them as she walked over.

"Hello." She said when she was with them.

"Hi." Harry said.

"I need to ask you to do something for me." Ron said looking at her as she sat down.

"You do?" Darla asked. "What?"

"It's about my sister." Ron answered. "Can you just; you know keep an eye on her?"

Darla nodded. "Now, I wanted to ask you something. Do you know what the Chamber of Secrets is?"

"Yes." Hermione said instantly.

"What is it? I heard it's the Slytherin's chamber." Darla said. "I tried asking Percy."

"I bet he told you that Prefects aren't allowed to tell students that." Ron muttered.

"The Chamber is a secret chamber that Salazar Slytherin built himself." Hermione said as if Darla and Ron hadn't said anything. "See Salazar Slytherin, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw were the four founders of Hogwarts-"

"I know all that." Darla interrupted. "I've heard all about it since I came and Harry told me, I read a bit of it in Hogwarts: A History too when I first came here."

"You didn't see the story about the Chamber of Secrets than?" Hermione asked. "It's in there. It also states that-"

"I just read the back of it honestly." Darla said. "But I do want to read the whole book now, only all the copies in the library are taken out."

"Yes I know. I have my own copy of course but I left it at home, it wouldn't fit in my trunk." Hermione answered.

"Anyway, so Salazar Slytherin built a secret Chamber?" Darla said noticing they were getting off topic.

"See the four founders got a long at first, you know trying to get as many magical students in their school as they could. Soon there was an argument between the founders, mostly between Godric and Salazar about who they accepted in their school. Salazar believed that only students from magical parents should come but Godric thought that anyone, even those from muggle families could come." Hermione began again.

"So after a while Slytherin left the school but before he left he built the Chamber of Secrets where a monster resides, it's believed his true heir will come and rid the school of all filth controlling Salazar's monster."

"And so that heir is here now using a monster he can control to kill of muggleborns?" Darla asked in disbelief. "But they'll be caught won't they? I mean, it has to be a student doing it!"

She felt terrified, and she hoped the weeks would go fast until Christmas vacation came she could go home. She hoped Harry would decide to go home even if her parents didn't want him to. It was too dangerous and seemed insane that the teachers weren't sending the students home.

--

"Wow their brooms look better than the school brooms." Darla said to Ginny.

"The school brooms are ancient though." Ginny answered. "I don't even know what kind they are. That's why they vibrated. You might be fine on a newer one. Ask Harry if you can try his out sometime."

Darla didn't answer she just watched as the two teams, Slytherin and Gryffindor walked onto the Quidditch Pitch. She was finally going to be able to watch a Quidditch game. She and Ginny a long with the rest of the first years had flying lessons in September and she hadn't liked it at all. Each time she had tried a trick the teacher Madame Hooch had told her to try; she'd feel the broom stick vibrating. She had told Ginny when they had finished with flying lessons that she was glad to be done.

Darla watched now as Madam Hooch blew her whistle and everyone took off. She noticed they all seemed fast but the Slytherin's were even faster, all showing off their new broom sticks. According to Harry the Malfoy boy had bought his way on to the team with the broom sticks.

"Oh my gosh!" Hermione shrieked in horror from behind her.

She looked at her to see both she and Ron were staring at Harry. Darla had been staring at the Slytherin's so she quickly turned and focused on Harry instead. A ball flew toward him and nearly hit him as the Weasley twins tried to hit it away.

"What ball is that one?" Darla asked Ginny who was beside her. "It looks like it has a mind of its own, trying to hit Harry."

"It's a bludgers. They try to hit as many players as they can, to knock them off their broom but that one does seem as though it has a mind of its own." Ginny answered. "They don't focus on just one player."

"They do sometimes." A girl in front of them answered. "But only if a player has angered a fairy. Harry has obviously angered a fairy."

Darla saw that it was Luna Lovegood; she knew that Luna often came up with strange explanations. She looked at Ginny to see if this was true but Ginny just shook her head and smiled. Sheila, Tammy and Julie all laughed and said something about Loony under their breaths. Darla knew that some people called her Loon Lovegood because they thought she seemed dotty.

Darla glanced at Harry again and saw that it was definitely just focusing on him. The Weasley twins were still trying to keep it away from him. The Slytherin's mean while were doing a good job and had already four times. Darla watched as they scored a fifth then a sixth time and looked at Harry and the twins again. She wondered why no one else on the Pitch seemed to notice that Harry was in trouble.

"They've finally called a time out." Hermione said with relief.

"About time." Ron said. "That things going to kill him."

"I wonder why it's doing that." Colin said who was sitting on Ginny's other side. "But Harry can take care of it can't he? I've already got some pictures of it for him to see later. I've watched some practices but this hasn't happened before."

"I don't know if Harry will want to see those pictures." Darla told him.

"Well, he might later." Colin answered.

"They are going back!" Ginny suddenly said. "And they aren't even going to deal with the Bludger, it's still out there."

Darla looked to see that all the players were resuming play, but this time Fred and George weren't even helping Harry. She didn't see how this could help at all, unless the team didn't care about their player but just winning. She knew if Harry caught his little ball, which was called a Snitch they would win the game so she didn't understand why they didn't help him out more.

Darla could hear a lot of people laughing and she bit back a laugh herself as she saw him do a twirl in the air. She knew it wasn't really funny, but seeing Harry twirling in the air did look funny. She hoped the game would end soon though; at that point she didn't care if the Slytherin's won, she just wanted Harry to be ok. Hermione and Ginny both let out loud shrieks as the bludger finally hit Harry's arm. She let out a moan herself as he grimaced in pain.

Then miraculously he still caught the snitch. No one seemed to notice what had happened at first than people around them started yelling excitedly. Harry meanwhile was going slowly to the ground holding the snitch where he fell and seemed to pass out.

--

"You think it was that Draco Malfoy who made the bludger go after Harry?" Darla asked Ron. "He'd actually try to kill a player just to win?"

"Look at what he did to that cat." Ron said.

"I don't think he did that to the cat." Darla said. "He seems bad but he seems like he might be more talk than anything. When it comes to actually doing something, he wouldn't do it."

"Well, we'll know for sure soon." Ron said shrugging. "But I still think it's him."

"You think the teachers will catch him soon?" Darla asked.

"Where is Ginny?" Hermione asked looking as though she wanted to change the subject. "I haven't seen her since the match."

"She is in the dorms. I think Harry losing his bones upset her. I didn't know that people could lose their bones."

"Only if an incompetent teacher is involved." Ron said. "He didn't know what he was doing."

"It can happen to anyone Ron. He wanted to fix Harry's arm but the spell went wrong. It could happen to me, it could happen to you-"

"We're second years." Ron reminded her.

"He'll be able to get the bones in his arms back won't he?" Darla asked wondering what her parents would say when Harry came home in the summer with no bones in his arm. She knew Dudley would find it funny.

"Yes, he had to take a special potion that will bring them back over night."

Darla went to bed shortly after only to be awoken by Ginny early the next morning shaking her frantically. She looked scared and wondered if something had gone wrong with Harry. She'd had a dream that the bones had grown back but his arm was twice the size that it used to be. He had to drag it around with him every where, people were always stepping or tripping over it.

"See what happens at your freak school?" Dudley had asked.

"What happened?" Darla asked sitting up quickly. "Is Harry ok?"

"I think so, I haven't seen him." Ginny said. "Hermione just told me. There had been another attack!"

"Another attack? On another animal?"

"No a student. It was Colin Creevey!" Ginny said panicking. "He's been petrified, just like the cat was."

Darla bolted out of bed and hurriedly dressed while Ginny hurried back to the Common Room to wait for her. In the Common Room she noticed that a lot of students seemed to be withdrawn. She saw the four other first year boys sitting together talking in low voices. They glanced at her and Ginny as they left the Common Room together.

They hurried together to the hospital wing, Ginny explaining quickly that Hermione had woken her in the Common Room and had told her about it before she and Ron had rushed off. Perhaps to tell Harry.

"Wait, why were you sleeping in the Common Room? When I went to bed last night you were already sleeping." Darla said confused.

"I woke up and went down stairs to get something." Ginny answered. "And then I don't know… I guess I fell asleep."

"You do that a lot you know." Darla said. "And you are still pale; did you go to the hospital wing yet?

"You sound like Percy." Ginny said. "I'll be fine, I told you it's the homework and now this added on it."

"Good point, sorry I'm not trying to pry." Darla said. "But the Christmas holidays are coming up soon so hopefully everything will be fine. Maybe whoever is doing this will be caught."

They reached the hospital wing and was about to enter when madam Pomfrey rushed toward them.

"Is there something you need?" She asked quickly. "If you are here to see Potter he has already gone. His bones have are back. I don't want anyone in here unless they need to be."

"It's me Madam." Ginny said. "I've been feeling a bit sick lately. I think I might be coming down with another cold… could you?"

Madam Pomfrey ushered them in quickly. Darla glanced around hoping to see Colin and figured he was the one who was behind the large curtain. Madam Pomfrey was checking Ginny and muttering that she did look quite peakish. Ginny was nodding and explaining that she'd been too busy with homework to come down, and thought the Quidditch match from yesterday caused it as well.

Madam Pomfrey disappeared to get Ginny the potion. While she did that, Darla hurried to take a peek around the curtain and felt her stomach drop as she did. Colin lay rigid on his bed staring up at the ceiling with his arms in front of him, as if clutching something. She wondered if it had been the camera that he had insisted on carrying around with him every where. She stared at his face; she had never seen him so still. Colin was someone she always believed to be on a sugar high.

She heard footsteps and hurried back over to Ginny just as Madam Pomfrey returned with the potion. Ginny drank it quickly and the effects worked instantly again. Ginny was no longer pale but the steam coming from her ears made Darla smile.

"Are you here for one too?" Madam Pomfrey asked Darla. "You look pale and you're shaking. Here drink this up."

She poured Darla some as well who drank it, grimacing at the taste. She didn't think it was possible but the cough medicine her mother had given her to when she was a child tasted a lot better. She thanked her and her and Ginny left the hospital wing together.

"He looked like a statue." Darla said.

Ginny nodded. "I didn't want to believe it was true, but I guess it is. Don't talk about it anymore ok?"

Darla was glad Ginny didn't want details because she didn't think she could ever get the sight of Colin lying so still on that bed out of her mind. She felt cold thinking about it even though the potion had warmed her up a lot. She could feel the steam pouring from her ears. She knew that could very well be she laying there on the bed all rigid, not knowing what was going on. Colin was a muggle born and so was she. Ginny seemed to be shaking even more and didn't seem to want to look at her.


	7. Chapter 7

The only subject that was talked about in the corridors in the next few weeks was the attack on Colin Creevey. Ginny was spending even more time than before up in the dormitory leaving Darla to talk to Sheila, Patty and Julie who could talk nothing else about Colin Creevey. She didn't talk much these days either and Harry kept asking her if she was ok.

Going to and from classes she stayed with the Gryffindor First years. Not one of them went on their own. The boys use to stick to their own group but they walked with the girls. Fred and George Weasley seemed to be worried about Ginny's behavior and kept finding ways to cheer her up. They didn't seem to realize that when they covered themselves in fur or boils, than jumping out at her in corridors was making it worse. Percy Weasley was busy during the evenings telling the Gryffindor's how important it was for them to always stick together, unless you're a prefect.

Darla believed he didn't think that Slytherin's heir would ever attack a prefect. She didn't think the heir really cared if they were prefect or not, they just wanted to get rid of the muggleborns. In the summer she had counted down the days until it was time to go to school but she was now counting down the days until Christmas. She didn't care how horrible Dudley would be toward her, anything was better than being at risk to be petrified.

Darla bought a green protector crystal from a fifth year in the meantime that she could wear around her neck.

"If Slytherin's heir is anywhere near you, it will tell you. It will also stop you from being petrified." The boy had told her when she asked what it was.

She now wore it around her neck everywhere she went, Ginny seemed to be frightened of the crystal and wouldn't look at it.

"Why are you wearing that thing?" Harry asked Darla one afternoon.

"It's to protect me from Slytherin's heir." Darla answered while Hermione examined.

"This won't." She said. "It's not even real crystal, it's just plastic charmed to look real."

"Are you sure?" Darla asked clutching the crystal in her hand, not knowing what crystal looked like.

"Yes, you can tell. It was a very poor spell." Hermione said. "The only protection this will give you is if you throw it at Slytherin's heir and it hits his eye."

"I bet all the protection devices are fake then." Darla said feeling scared again. She had felt safe with the crystal around her neck.

"Likely. A lot of people are making money off of people who are scared." Hermione said in a dark voice. "But hopefully soon it will be over."

Darla wore the crystal anyway. She couldn't explain it, but she felt drawn to it and didn't want to take it off. Hermione had revealed what the crystal actually was to Darla with a spell and they both saw it was a plastic purple cat ball. Hermione had put the spell back on it for Darla and she continued wearing it.

"After all Slytherin's heir doesn't know it's just a cat ball." Darla told Harry who asked why she would want it back.

"You're going home for Christmas aren't you?" He asked her.

"Yes, and I really think you should too." Darla answered.

"No. Your parents don't want me there and anyway, I'll be able to do my homework. At your house I won't be able too." Harry stated quickly.

"They don't want me home either, but at least it's safer there than here. And it's your house to Harry." Darla said.

Harry refused though and Darla let it be. She knew that once he had his mind made up it was hard to change it. He seemed to believe that Slytherin's heir would be gone after the Holidays and she hoped he was right. Instead of arguing with him she went to the library to work on her Transfiguration essay.

She saw the Slytherin first year boys sitting nearby talking. She really didn't know them that well. She liked to avoid them as much as she could knowing that they didn't take to kindly to muggleborns. They hadn't really bothered her yet, but she wasn't sure how much longer that would last. The girls enjoyed making fun of Ginny's hand me down robes more than bothering the muggleborns.

She started working on her Transfiguration essay trying to remember the advice Hermione had given her on that particular one. She had to write about how to turn a muggle pencil into a quill. She had no idea and had asked Hermione who had easily done it with a wave of her wand and saying the incantation lazily. Darla now put her head into her hands and tried to remember what it was that she had said.

"Give it up mudblood. This is the reason why they shouldn't let your kind here. It's too hard." Someone said interrupting her thoughts.

She looked up to see that two of the boys had come over from the Slytherin's, the three others were watching. She felt nervous; none of them had ever approached her before. They had said a comment to her once or twice but not had ever walked over to talk to her. She knew this couldn't be a pleasant conversation either. She knew the two boys who had come over to her were Calvin and Mack.

"It is true that you're Harry Potter's cousin?" Mack asked. "We've heard you were."

"Yes." She answered and continued proudly, "We're cousins."

"Is it true that he almost got expelled in the summer for using magic?" Calvin asked.

"He got a warning." Darla said trying to look braver than she felt. "Look, if you have a point get to it because I am busy."

"Did he use the magic on your family?" Calvin asked.

"No. It wasn't even him who did it." Darla said. "And it wasn't used on anyone. Why-"

"All right, never mind then. We just thought- but was it you that did it then?" Mack said in an impatient voice.

"No. Why, do _you_ also think Harry is Slytherin's heir?"

The boys didn't answer; they just turned and walked away back to their table. The three other boys leaned closer to hear what they had to say. Darla slammed her book shut and stuffed everything back in her bag. She wasn't sure, but the boys had probably been hoping that Harry was actually Slytherin's heir.

--

"No, I doubt they were hoping Harry is Slytherin's heir. I think it's just a bunch of nosy kids. Just ignore those boys; they just want to start trouble. The thought of Slytherin's monster probably scares them even if they won't admit it." Hagrid said.

"Thanks for listening Hagrid." Darla said. "I was hoping you would. I didn't want to go to Harry about those boys and Ginny doesn't like to hear anything that has to do with Slytherin's heir at all anymore."

"I've heard it's really been bothering her." Hagrid said pouring Darla some tea. "But you can always come to me if you have a problem. Come by whenever you want. I was wondering if you were going to come down again."

"I've just been very busy." Darla answered. "You know with homework and The Chamber of Secrets."

Hagrid just nodded. Darla took a sip of tea and took a look around the Cabin. She thought that Hagrid was lucky to have a place of his own on the school yard. She missed having her own room; she really couldn't hide anything in the dormitory. She shared her dorm with three very nosy girls. Julie was the worst of the three and didn't seem to like to leave things alone. Hagrid however had his own space that he could lock up if he wanted.

"Do you think they'll close the school?" Darla asked Hagrid putting her tea cup down.

"They might." Hagrid said. "But let's not talk about it right now. Are you enjoying Hogwarts so far?"

Darla noticed a lot of people didn't seem to want to talk about The Chamber of Secrets but she wanted to know as much as she could about it. It could be because she was a muggleborn and was in danger of being petrified. Colin Creevey had already been, probably a lot of the students knew she was Harry Potters muggleborn cousin. Slytherin's heir likely knew it too.

"Yes, the classes are great. My marks could be better but classes are a lot harder than I thought they would. Herbology is my favourite class." Darla answered. "I've enjoyed working on gardens and the plants Professor Sprout has are fascinating."

"I heard you had a green thumb. Do you know Neville Longbottom?" Hagrid asked.

"I've seen him talking to Harry, but I've never talked to him." Darla answered.

"He is the best in second year Herbology right now. He would have had top marks last year but I believe Hermione beat him." Hagrid said.

"Are there many careers in the wizarding world for Herbology?" Darla asked. "I've always wanted to work with plants no matter what."

"In your fifth year you'll be able to discuss that with Professor McGonagall." Hagrid said.

Darla nodded and wondered if she should talk to Neville. Harry himself had told her that Neville was the best in the year for Herbology. Harry, Ron and Hermione were the only older students she really knew excluding Ginny's older brothers. The other older students made her nervous since they were more experiences than she was. She didn't even know the names of the rest of the older students in Harry's year and they shared a house.

--

"Hey Darla!" Sheila called across the Common Room. "Come here."

Darla hurried over to Sheila where Patty and Julie were as well. They looked excited about something and Darla wondered instantly if the culprit behind the attacks had been caught. She sat down in an armchair across from Julie.

"What's up?" She asked.

"They are starting a dueling club tonight!" Sheila said excitedly.

"Really?" Darla asked feeling nervous. "I'm not sure if I'll join. I mean, so far I've been rubbish at spells. I've finally learned how to do the levitating spell in charms and remember how long it took me to turn a match into a pin?"

"You've gotten better." Julie said. "Anyway, I'm having trouble in Charms too."

"But I don't even know any hexes." Darla said. "So you suppose they'll teach us them?"

"Hopefully." Patty said. "Ginny said she was going, and your cousin and his friends are going."

"I guess it's worth it to check out." Darla answered.

At eight that evening Darla went with the girls to the Great Hall where it was supposed to be held. When they entered the Great Hall Darla was surprised to see all the tables were gone. A golden stage was against one wall with thousands of candles floating above. To Darla's dismay she realized that the whole school had liked the idea of the Dueling club. It seemed everyone was packed in the Great Hall.

She saw Harry, Ron and Hermione in the crowd and pushed her way over to them with the girls' right behind her.

"Hi Harry." Patty, Sheila and Julie said instantly with large grins.

"Hello." Ginny added with a blush.

"I was wondering if you were going to come." Harry said to Darla.

"You look pale." Ron said to Ginny pushing his way past the three girls to look at her.

"I'm fine Ron. Don't start acting like Percy." Ginny muttered glancing at Harry with an embarrassed look on her face.

A few moments later Professor Lockhart appeared on stage. Darla held in a giggle because Harry had just began saying he was hoping it wouldn't be Lockhart. Darla stared up at him and felt annoyed that she seemed to be the only girl who didn't think he was a fraud. Even Hermione, who never acted ditzy, was blushing as he walked on the stage. Only Ginny didn't seem to be very taken with him, but it could have been because Harry was near.

"Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me?" He called out. Can you all hear me? Excellent! Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little Dueling Club, to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions - for full details, see my published works. Let me introduce my assistant Professor Snape,"

Darla watched as Professor Snape who had followed Lockhart on the stage was glaring at Lockhart in a loathsome way.

"He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry - you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!"

"I'd be more worried about Snape finishing off Lockhart." Darla whispered in Ginny's ear who giggled.

"Don't be mean." She whispered back.

Lockhart than decided to show them how to disarm people. Darla decided to pay very close attention; she hoped they would get to learn other hexes as well. She wondered if she should ask Harry to teach her, she had never thought of learning dueling spells since she never wanted to be in a duel. She knew her cousin had to know a lot of good ones if he had saved the Philosophers Stone in his first year.

Professor Lockhart bowed to Snape who didn't really bow before aiming their wands at each other. Professor Lockhart mentioned how their wands were positioned so Darla focused her attention on both wands, before taking her own out and holding it the way they were. Ginny glanced at and began snickering.

"Hey, I need to learn in case I'm in a duel don't I?" Darla whispered.

"Yes, but you're taking this so seriously." Ginny whispered back. "Ask your cousin for help if you need it."

Darla was about to reply but as she opened her mouth Snape shouted:

"Expelliarmus!"

Professor Lockhart was thrown backwards and his wand flew out of his hand. Darla watched as a couple second year girls leapt up to try and catch it. She choked back a laugh quickly as Lockhart acted as if he knew Professor Snape was going to do that. She caught Harry's eye who grinned back. She saw Ron rolling his eyes while Hermione looked upset that Lockhart had been thrown almost off stage. Darla thought it was strange to see Hermione get gushy over a teacher, Hermione didn't seem the type.

Lockhart decided to put them in pairs to try the disarming spell. Darla felt nervous as Professor Snape made his way toward them, but luckily Lockhart had come over too.

"You two can work together." He said to Ginny and Darla. "Just find a space away from other duelers."

"What was the incantation again?" Darla asked Ginny.

"Expelliarmus." Ginny answered. "You can try first and then I'll try."

They bowed at each other before back up about five feet. Darla pointed her wand at Ginny and yelled the incantation not expecting it to work. Her mouth dropped open as Ginny's wand flew out of her hand. She didn't fly backwards the way Lockhart had, she didn't even move.

"I did it! And how come you weren't thrown backwards?" Darla exclaimed happily.

"You aren't powerful enough." Ginny answered. "And I think Snape really wanted to do that to Lockhart so he put as much power as he could into it."

Ginny retrieved her wand and hurried back to try the spell on Darla. They both stopped as they saw that people most people weren't disarming each other. She saw Harry staring at the Malfoy boy who Snape had paired with Harry was laughing. Other people were wincing and yelling out in pain.

"I said disarm only!" Lockhart shouted.

Darla wished she knew other spells but she didn't want to hex Ginny either. Snape stepping in moments later and yelled something that Darla hadn't caught. It seemed to work because everyone stopped what they were doing and were looking around the Great Hall at the others.

Many people had injuries. Darla saw that Patty had been paired with a Slytherin girl in their year named Felicia who was very large. Patty was crying and holding her nose while Felicia laughed at her and said something Darla couldn't hear. Whatever it was made Patty mad because she raised her wand quickly. She opened her mouth to say something but Professor Lockhart interrupted.

"I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells," He called causing Patty to put away her wand and move over to Julie and Sheila. "Let's have a volunteer pair - Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you?"

Professor Snape quickly stopped that and picked Malfoy and Harry instead. Darla could tell that Harry wasn't happy about this, but he didn't complain as everyone moved away to give them room. She knew that Harry could take Malfoy though. If she were Malfoy, she would be scared to have to face Harry. She watched Lockhart try to show Harry something but he dropped his wand instead.

"I'm more worried for Malfoy." Darla told Ginny who was watching Harry anxiously. "Harry can finish him off quickly, I bet."

Ginny nodded but didn't say anything. She started chewing on the nail of her index finger while she watched Harry. Darla saw Snape whispering something in Malfoy's ear before moving away. Harry and Draco bowed to each other.

"THREE-TWO-ONE GO!" Lockhart shouted.

"Serpensortia!" Draco shouted.

Darla let out a scream as a snake appeared out of Draco's wand. What disturbed Darla the most happened a few moments later. She watched as Harry walked toward the large snake and hissed at it, it looked as though he was trying to get it to go after the boy in front of the snake. The boy seemed to think so as well because he shouted at Harry before running off. Everyone started murmuring around them.

"What was Harry doing?" Darla asked Ginny who was staring at Harry.

Ron and Hermione had rushed over to him and were pulling him away. Ginny just shook her head and motioned for Darla to follow. They hurried through the crowd and stopped just outside the Great Hall.

"Did you know Harry was a Parselmouth?" Ginny asked anxiously.

"A what?" Darla asked confused. "I don't even understand what just happened in there."

"Harry can talk to snakes. He was speaking to that snake, but I'm not sure what he said. I don't think he said what it looked like though." Ginny answered starting to walk again as the rest of the group in the Great Hall began leaving.

"And what did you think it looked like he was doing?" Darla asked.

"It looked like he was telling the snake to go at that boy. I don't think he did though, Harry wouldn't."

"Does this mean I am a Parselmouth too? I don't understand." Darla said.

"No, you likely aren't. It's very rare that someone has that gift. Salazar Slytherin could speak to snakes. That is why Slytherin's house symbol is a Snake." Ginny answered as they turned to climb up steps.

"But then," Darla said slowly feeling her stomach drop. "That means that everyone is going to think Harry is Slytherin's heir."

"Exactly." Ginny said, voice shaking.

--

"No. Harry is not Slytherin's heir. He could be a Parselmouth for some other reason. His best friend is muggleborn and I am too." Darla said.

"It just seems weird." Julie said. "There are all these attacks in school and Harry turns out to be a Parselmouth."

"And he was found under that cat." Patty continued. "And then there was that boy. That Justin Flinch-Fletchy boy and Nearly Headless Nick. He petrified a ghost!"

"Harry found them like that." Darla said. "He was looking for Justin to let him know that he was telling the snake to leave him alone. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

They were on the train to go home for Christmas. Darla was glad that the term had finally ended. The only ones who were in good spirits at the school seemed to be Fred and George Weasley. They liked to joke about Harry being Slytherin's heir. They had stopped when it upset Ginny, and Percy had yelled at them.

Now Darla sat on the train with Sheila, Patty and Julie who didn't like to discuss anything else except the attacks. A second year boy had been attacked, a long with a ghost. It had scared everyone the most that a ghost had been petrified more than the boy. Darla just wished people would stop putting the blame on Harry who had been found near them. He had been looking for Justin (the boy who had been attacked) to explain that he wasn't trying to set the snake on him.

People had been trying to avoid Harry ever since the night of the Dueling Club. Harry had told Darla the next day that he had been telling the snake to leave Justin alone. It wasn't the first time Darla had seen Harry talking to a snake; she had seen him talking to one at the Zoo.

"I doubt it's Harry." Sheila said. "His parents were murdered by the very person who would _want _muggleborns out of the school. His mother was a muggleborn, and so is Darla. Harry just has the unlucky habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And we don't know if the Potter's before him were Parselmouths. They could have been and most people know that the Potter's were good people."

"Well, who could it be then?" Julie asked not sounding convinced.

"How about that one boy?" Patty asked. "That one who was excited about seeing the cat attacked."

"Draco Malfoy? Yeah, Harry and his friends think so too." Darla answered.

"I don't know." Sheila said shaking her head. "It could be, but he had seemed shocked at first too before realizing what had happened. Besides, I saw him at the feast with those two boys he's always with."

Darla was glad when the girls started to guess who else it could be. She leaned back in her seat and stared out the window. She hoped her parents had gotten her message that she would be coming home for Christmas. They hadn't responded back to her letter. She wasn't sure what she would do if they hadn't shown up. She didn't have any money on her at all.

The girls got bored with discussing Slytherin's heir after awhile and began talking about their Christmas holidays instead. Darla wondered how the families of the petrified victims were reacting. She wondered if her parents would get upset if she got petrified. She could see Dudley finding it a big joke, while her mother and father told each other that she had got what she deserved. It would never have happened if she would have stayed at home.

--

Darla found her parents on the platform outside of platform nine and three quarters right away. She walked up to them smiling, glad to see them. She gave them both hugs hoping they would return them and was relieved when they did.

"I can take your trunk." Her father grunted.

"Where is Dudley?" Darla asked noticing he wasn't around.

"Aunt Marge is staying with us for a week." Her mother answered. "He stayed home with her."

She followed her parents to the car, her heart sinking. She liked her Aunt Marge, who was her fathers sister but she always insisted in dressing Darla up. Darla wouldn't have minded but her Aunt Marge had terrible taste. She had bought Darla an orange dress that was very frilly one year for her birthday. She had wanted Darla to wear the dress on her first day of school; the kids at school had teased her all day. Dudley and Harry had gotten a laugh out of it as well, more Dudley than Harry.

She was glad Harry wasn't coming home after all; her Aunt Marge literally hated Harry. She liked to tell him exactly what was wrong with him every time she saw him. She had once let her dog chase him up a tree and didn't call him off until after midnight. She wasn't sure why her Aunt didn't like him because she certainly didn't know that Harry was a wizard.

"Your Aunt Marge doesn't know about you or the boy." Her father said once they were in the car. "She believes that you are going to Frances School for Girls."

"Yes, so Darla please do try and be polite. At Frances, they teach girls manners."

"I can be polite. I can put it on when I want to." Darla answered.

"Yes, I know." Her mother answered in a dry voice. "I still have the pamphlets from the school. I would like you to read over them again, just so you have an idea on what to tell your Aunt. You know she'll want to know."

"She believes Harry is at St. Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys." Her father continued. "So don't her otherwise."

Darla bit her tongue so she couldn't tell her father what she thought of that. Harry was better behaved than she was or Dudley was and he wanted her Aunt to think he was a criminal. She just nodded her head and glanced out the window wondering what horrible outfit her Aunt would have for her that year. The year before she had sent her a pink sweater that had large purple buttons on it. The buttons didn't do the shirt up, they were there for decoration. Darla had chucked the sweater the first chance she could get.

When they arrived at home Darla followed her parents slowly into the house. Her father told her to go to the living room. She watched as he put her trunk in the cupboard under the stairs. She knew she would have to get her homework out later; the teachers had assigned a lot of holiday work.

"There she is!" Darla heard as she entered the living room.

"Pleased to see you Aunt Marge." Darla said with a polite smile. "I hope you are well."

"Petunia! That school is working wonders on her already. Not that she wasn't polite before. Darla, you have grown to be a beautiful young lady." Aunt Marge said getting up.

She walked over to Darla and gave her a bone crushing hug. Darla returned it before stepping back. She moved over to her own pink chair that her father had bought for her years ago and sat down. Dudley was sitting on the couch eating chips and laughing at a television show.

"Hello Dudley." Darla said.

"Uh huh." Dudley said. "Want some chips?"

"No thank you." Darla answered.

"Now, this is the way it should be." Aunt Marge said settling back beside Dudley on the couch. "This is family. I am glad to see that the boy isn't here to ruin it. Did you request to keep him at school Vernon?"

Darla looked at her father who was nodding seriously. "Yes, some students misbehave there to a point where the school believes that they should spend their holidays their. He has misbehaved a lot this year."

"We gave our permission as soon as the letter came." Her mother added on. "He'll have to learn the hard way."

Aunt Marge nodded seriously. "There is still hope for him then."

Later the adults went into the kitchen for tea. Dudley got up to turn his video game on. He turned to Darla as he set it up.

"Want to play then?" He asked stiffly.

She remembered in the summer when he had told her she was dead to him and was glad to see this wasn't true. He was not ignoring her anymore. She had a feeling her parents had decided to act civilly around her and had told Dudley to do the same. It was easier for them to ignore Harry than it was her, she was their daughter. Darla nodded and sat forward in her chair.

"So, do you have any friends at your freak school?" Dudley asked handing her a remote control.

"Yes. I have four new friends." Darla answered. "Plus I have Harry and his friends too. It really isn't a freaky school Dudley."

"You learn magic tricks there." Dudley answered sitting down on the couch.

"It's more than that. It's actually quite complicated Dudley. It's not just wand waving." Darla answered sighing.

"You aren't supposed to say that word in the house." Dudley said. "I didn't think you'd make friends but I suppose freaks like freaks."

"Shut up!" Darla said angrily. "Just because you don't understand it, doesn't mean we are freaks. If you weren't so close minded- "

"Dad hates you now you know." Dudley interrupted. "Guess who is no longer daddies little girl!"

Darla got angry and slammed the remote control on the ground before running out of the living room and up to her room. She should have known that her brother would still be the same. She didn't know how to get him to accept her, but she was determined. She wanted them to be the way they use to be.

--

Darla waited for her parents to yell at her about losing her temper but they didn't say a word about it. She wondered if Dudley had told on her, he normally would. He was back to ignoring her except to mutter freak under his breath. Although she was happy to be home away from where the attacks were, she was also wishing to be back at Hogwarts. No one made fun of her at Hogwarts. She had felt accepted at Hogwarts, even if she had been terrified that she would be petrified any moment.

On Christmas Eve Aunt Marge handed both her and Dudley a gift.

"I have more gifts for tomorrow, but I really wanted you two to open these gifts. Darla, this gift in particular I wanted you to have for tomorrow." Aunt Marge said.

They sat in the Living Room together. Dudley was already ripping into his gift excitedly. He pulled out a new game for his game system.

"Brilliant!" He shouted. "Can I play now mum?"

"Sure, what do you say Dudley?" Her mother answered.

"Thank you Aunt Marge." Dudley said. "You're the best Aunt ever."

Darla felt her package, it felt soft. She knew it was clothes. She ripped open her gift slowly, trying to act as if she were a lady. She was really opening it slowly because she was scared of what she would find inside. She nearly shouted out when she pulled it out of the gift wrapping but bit her tongue and forced herself to smile at the hideous thing.

"You love it! I know you would." Aunt Marge gasped. "Try it on dear."

Darla glanced at Dudley who had started to cough hard; she knew he was trying to hide his laughter. She glanced at her mother next who wore a fake smile on her face, and then she looked at the dress. It was the most ghastly dress she had ever seen in her life, she couldn't believe someone had actually made it. It was a lime green colour and it was covered it red and white bows.

"Thank you Aunt Marge." Darla said having trouble speaking. "I'm-I'm going to go try it on."

"You see that? She is speechless." Aunt Marge said.

Darla got up slowly from her chair and headed out of the room. She stood in the hall for a few minutes staring at the dress with disbelief. Her mother stepped out a few moments later and whispered:

"Go on Darla, try it on. It means a lot to your Aunt."

"Mum." Darla whispered back. "It's horrible. And this green isn't even the right green for Christmas."

"I know, but you don't want to hurt your Aunts feelings. You are going to wear it and you are going to like it."

Darla wished she could do magic at the moment so she could set the dress on fire. She moved away from her mother and walked up the steps to try on the dress. Her Aunt had given her a lot of horrible clothes, but she believed this dress was the worst she had ever received.

A/N: Hope you had fun reading.

It took me a while because I have more ideas for Darla when she is in her fourth and fifth year than I do now. I have written a lot of chapters already. Some of them will likely have to change by the time I get there but I have a feeling that first and second year are going to be the hardest to write. So please bear with me. And yes, I realize I haven't put many school lessons in. You will see a lot more of those after the Christmas Holidays. You'll also see a lot more people in Darla's year.

And in case you are wondering whether or not Darla will have an enemy (like Harry does with Draco) the answer is yes.

Oh and Hagrid is really hard to write I was working on him for days before deciding to put his words normally, and just imagining how he would say it. That's another reason why this chapter took a long time to write.

Anyway please review.


	8. Chapter 8

Darla grumbled as she heard pecking sounds and stretched. She stared at her alarm to see that it was four-thirty in the morning. She didn't understand why she had to be awake so early, even on Christmas. Even as a child she hadn't woken up so early and she had been excited then. She wasn't looking forward to the day at all. Christmas in her house always meant staying the whole day together with the family. She wouldn't be able to go in her room away from everyone that day. If Aunt Marge hadn't been there, maybe she could. She looked at her bedroom window to see what the source of the pecking was and realized it was Hedwig.

She quickly got out of bed and hurried to the window to let her in. Ginny and Harry had given her their Christmas gifts before she went home, so she didn't understand. Harry had given her special ink that changed colour and a new quill. Ginny had given her a pack of Chocolate Frogs. She pulled the envelope from Hedwig and let her drink from her water glass. Darla opened the letter and read:

_Merry Christmas Darla._ _Hope your Holidays are going ok so far. It's been a bit boring without you or the other girls around to talk to. I've talked to Ron, Harry and Hermione but they seem a bit secretive. I think they are up to something because Ron tells me to go away a lot. I've been visiting Hagrid a lot though, he's so easy to talk to for an adult. I've wanted to ask him why he doesn't visit his family but I thought it would be rude. Percy made me take more pepper-up potion. I bet I've taken that potion more than anyone else in the school_. _It was so much easier to get away from him when everyone was here so I can't wait for the term to begin again._

_Well anyway I hope everything is ok there. I sent this letter to make sure it went to your house early so your parents and brother wouldn't find out._

_See you when you get back._

_Ginny._

_P.S. Harry says Merry Christmas._

_P.P.S So do the twins and everyone else._

Darla wrote a quick response, telling Ginny about the fight she had had with Dudley and the dress before sending it off with Hedwig. She then looked at the clock to see it was five. She knew her parents wouldn't be up for another hour so she hurriedly snuck down stairs to get her school books. As quietly as she could she opened the door to the cupboard under the steps and went inside. She opened her trunk and started shifting her stuff around until she got the books she needed. She put them all in her school bag before hurrying out and standing up.

Dudley stood smirking at her, Darla stared back wondering why she hadn't heard him come down the steps. She looked at his hand to see that he was eating a Christmas cookie and realized that he had already been down, he had probably been in the kitchen eating and had heard her.

"So," Dudley said smirking. "Going behind mum and dads back are you?"

"Dudley please." Darla pleaded. "I need to do my homework."

"Oh I won't tell." Dudley said.

Darla thought this was very suspicious. "And why not?" She demanded. "What are you going to do? Find a way for them to catch me?"

"No." He answered."I'm not going to do anything."

He turned and headed up the steps. Darla followed after him not knowing what to think. She knew that by Dudley's smirk he was up to something. She wondered if he would try to blackmail her or perhaps make her admit that she did it. She knew he couldn't be thinking of something too good to get her caught, he wasn't smart enough. Darla followed him trying to be quiet as possible, but it was impossible since Dudley was making a lot of noise.

--

Christmas day didn't go as bad as Darla thought it would. While Dudley had laughed at her all day about her dress she did get good stuff for Christmas. Her Aunt had given her more clothes for school that Darla would never wear. Only one of the dresses were decent, it was a pretty green colour but it was two sizes too small. The rest were terrible, but not quite as terrible as the lime green Christmas dress. Her parents had bought her a lot of books, her mother had even gone as far as getting a book about manners. Darla didn't mind though, the book would help her out a lot when she needed it. She was sure she would someday.

Her best gift was the one her father gave her. He had given her a twelve week old calico kitten. One of the books her mother had given her was a list of cat names so she had searched later in the day to find a perfect name for her kitten which was a girl. She finally found one that was perfect: Calicalpurnia. She thought it was sweet because the kitten purred a lot and also because she was a calico. She didn't understand why her father had finally given her what she'd always wanted, a pet.

Her mother didn't like animals at all. They made too much of a mess, she had almost fainted when Harry had brought Hedwig home. Normally Aunt Marge brought her dog Ripper but she hadn't that time and Darla suspected it was because of the kitten. Darla's mother was usually found scrubbing the house from top to bottom after Aunt Marge and Ripper left when they had a visit. As her father had given her the kitten he had said:

"It will be all right because you can keep her at that school most of the time." She had a feeling that was more for her mothers benefit than hers.

"They are allowed pets?" Aunt Marge had asked. "I wouldn't think it would be appropriate."

"It's to teach us responsibility." Darla said quickly for her father. "A lot of the girls bring cats or fish."

"Well yes, I suppose I can understand that." Aunt Marge answered.

Darla was able to finish her homework during the rest of the holidays. She did it at night most of the time but she noticed her parents didn't come into her room anymore as they had before. The last Christmas her father had gone in her room a lot to see if she was happy. He had wanted to know a lot about her life back then, now he never asked once. He didn't seem to care if she was happy at Hogwarts and she would bet her fake Crystal, which she still wore around her neck that he didn't know about the attacks at school. She wondered if her parents would be upset if she or Harry were attacked.

She was sure her homework wasn't the best quality but she was worried that Dudley would do something to make her parents find out. She was sure he would try harder when Aunt Marge had left but he didn't, he went back to ignoring her. She was able to return it all without them finding out. She was curious about why Dudley hadn't told on her. The only terrible thing he had done was throw Calicalpurnia across the room when she had climbed on the table when Dudley was eating.

She was glad when it was finally time to go back to school. She had never felt more unwelcome at home, even with her parents talking to her again. She didn't like the polite cautious way that they treated her. They acted as if she would explode or hex them if they weren't nice to her.

--

"They actually got you a kitten?" Harry asked holding Calicalpurnia who tried to bite his glasses. "But Aunt Petunia hates animals."

"I guess dad convinced her since Calicalpurnia will stay here most of the time." Darla answered.

"Calic-what!?" Ron exclaimed. "What kind of name is that?"

"It's a sweet name." Ginny answered. "Calicalpurnia is a nice name for a cat."

Darla was sure Calicalpurnia was used to all the attention as Harry handed her to Ginny who blushed. She had sat with Patty, Sheila and Julie on the train and they hadn't left her alone once. If it were Darla she would have scratched them. They were up in the dormitory unpacking, and Darla was hoping they would leave Calicalpurnia alone. She had taken her stuff up to the Dormitory but had decided to unpack later. She really wanted to visit with Ginny and Harry, she had missed them a lot. She filled Harry in on what had happened over the Christmas holidays.

"I'll show you the dress later." She told them. "It is hideous."

"I can believe it." Harry answered darkly. He hated Aunt Marge as much as she hated him. "I hope I never have to see her again. Luckily she only really comes around holidays. She doesn't come much in the summer, and if she does hopefully I'm not there."

"Where is Hermione. I thought she would love to see Calicalpurnia too." Darla said changing the subject quickly.

"Not feeling well." Ron said quickly.

"In the Hospital Wing for a while but she can't have any visitors but us." Harry added.

Darla and Ginny exchanged glances. Ginny had written to her to say that Hermione was in the hospital wing but Darla had forgotten. She had also said that Harry and Ron were acting strangely about why she was in the hospital wing. Darla felt angry but didn't say anything, she didn't understand why Harry couldn't be more open with her. She had wanted them to be close but he seemed to tell Hermione and Ron more stuff then he did her, and he had known her longer, she was family.

But she also knew Ron didn't tell Ginny anything either and he was her brother. She gripped the crystal in her hand as she stared at Harry who didn't seem to notice that she was hurt. She turned to Ginny.

"Come on, I'll show you the dress." She said. "Talk to you later Harry."

--

"Did you have a good Holiday?" Professor Sprout asked Darla as she pruned roses that were bigger than her head.

Darla nodded. "Yes it was great. I was glad to be home to see my family again. Did you?"

"Yes. I spent a lot of the time making sure the Mandrakes were all maturing the way they should."

She answered.

"Won't we ever get to work with them?" Darla asked wishing so much she could see them. She had learned so much from Hermione about them.

"No, they are far too advanced for first years, especially at the stage they are at now. They are advanced for the second and third years as well, but I'm not sure when I'll get more so I wanted them to have some hands on experience." Professor Sprout answered.

"I'd be careful." Darla said. "I know that the cry of a Mandrake can kill you. Hermione Granger told me about Mandrakes."

Professor Sprout nodded showing Darla she understood. Then she smiled. "Well, if you'd like to come down to the Green House this Saturday I can show you. However, you must realize that I don't want you working with them, you will be there to observe. I want you to follow all my instructions, it is very important that you do."

"Oh I will." Darla said excitedly. "I'm just glad that I will get to see them."

Darla wasn't sure how she would be able to wait until Saturday to see them. She was sure that she would have homework to keep her busy, a long with keeping Julie away from Calicalpurnia. Julie would not leave the kitten a lone, no matter how many times Darla asked her nicely to leave her play. Calicalpurnia loved the Common Room and Darla thought it was because there were so many friendly people there. She had spent about a week and a half at Darla's home and had been pushed around by Dudley and swatted at by her Darla's mother. But at Hogwart's Calicalpurnia had only been there a night and seemed happier because none of the students could resist a kitten. She enjoyed jumping on people's homework while they tried to work.

"You don't think Hermione was attacked do you?" Darla asked Ginny as they worked on an essay that Professor Snape had set that day.

"No." Ginny answered. "The whole school would know by now if she had. It's just something they were up to. I'm not too sure what though. Ron was very rude up until Christmas day when I wanted to talk to them. Then Hermione disappeared Christmas night."

"I bet they were trying to solve the secret of the Chamber of Secrets and Hermione got really hurt. They were all so sure that the attacks would be finished after Christmas Holidays." Darla said. "I just wish Harry would tell me. I was hoping-" And she voiced it for the very first time to anyone. "That Harry would be like an older brother to me instead of just my cousin. But he isn't treating me like his sister, he won't tell me anything."

Ginny giggled. "Then he is treating you like you're his younger sister. Older brothers never tell their younger sisters... or brothers anything. They tell their friends but that's it. Don't you have that with Dudley?"

"Yes, but I thought that was just with Dudley. He's always been secretive, there is so much he does that my parents have no idea. And there was so much I never told him, or anyone."

"In time there will be things you won't ever tell Harry. Ron and I use to tell each other everything when we were little but now Ron tell's Harry and Hermione everything." Ginny answered.

Darla nodded understanding now that Harry wasn't being rude on purpose, but she still couldn't help but feel hurt. She reminded herself it was probably because she was just curious about why Hermione was in the Hospital Wing. She looked at Ginny as she looked through her potions book to find a definition. Ginny had said friends tell each other things, but Ginny was keeping something from her. She was writing it all down in her diary and it hurt that Ginny wouldn't tell Darla anything, because Darla knew Ginny was hiding something.

"Darn it!" Ginny yelled as Calicalpurnia jumped on their table and knocked over the ink well. Luckily the ink didn't get on their essays.

"Calicalpurnia you have to be careful." Darla told the kitten picking her up and saw ink was on her paws. "Wish I knew a cleaning spell to get this off. Do you?"

Ginny shook her head. "I saw mum do it a lot but she never said the incantation. She can do magic without saying anything."

"When can we learn that? It will be easier if we're in a duel." Darla said hugging Calicalpurnia close.

"Sixth year I guess. Percy was practicing it a lot over the holidays so I think that's when." Ginny answered wiping the ink off the table.

Darla got up to take Calicalpurnia to the bathroom so she could clean her paws off. She was sure that ink wouldn't be good for a cat to lick off later. She looked around the Common Room for Harry as she got up and wondered if he was visiting Hermione when she didn't see him anywhere. She guessed she should have made more of an effort when they were kids, then maybe he would tell her more about his life. She envied his, Hermione's and Ron's friendship. She wanted the same one with Ginny.

--

Darla pulled on all her warm clothes before leaving the Dormitory Saturday morning. The girls were all still sleeping, none of them had seemed interested with the mandrakes. Julie had thought it was abnormal that she was going to a class on a Saturday by choice. Darla had tried to explain that it wasn't a class but Julie wouldn't listen. Only Sheila had seemed interested in the Mandrakes but she had also said that she wouldn't go see them on a Saturday. Ginny had told her to have fun but she had other things to do on a Saturday and she would see Darla when she got back. Ron and Harry had both said it would be something Hermione would want to do.

She picked Calicalpurnia from the floor, who had been attacking Ginny's shoe and took her to the Common Room. She figured it would be best if she put her in the Common Room where she wouldn't attack the girls who were trying to sleep. Once Darla set her down Calicalpurnia ran straight for a piece of parchment that was laying on the floor and started to scratch at it.

"You be good." Darla told her as she left the Common Room.

The Corridors were very quiet and Darla figured everyone was probably still sleeping. When the weather had been warm people had got up early to enjoy a day outside on weekends but everyone seemed to want to sleep in on Saturdays. Darla didn't blame them it was even cold in the castle corridors. She knew from overhearing Harry and Ron talking the other night that the Slytherin's Common Room was located in the dungeons and she wondered if it was warm in their Common Room. It was freezing in the Dungeons, potion making wasn't a lot of fun these days. Although she didn't like Potions either way because Professor Snape still didn't seem to like the Gryffindors. Harry had been surprised that he didn't pick on her because she was his cousin. Snape did pick on her because her potions weren't up to his standard. She had thought hers were acceptable compared to some of the people's in the class. Julie had made one of her potions clot up.

As Darla walked through the corridors she thought she heard someone laughing and wondered if it was the voice Harry had heard twice before. However when she turned around she saw it was only Peeve's the Poltergeist. He had a straw in his mouth as he floated near the ceiling.

"Oh hello Peeves." Darla said. "How are you?"

She didn't like Peeve's at all but she hoped if she was nice to him he wouldn't bother her. She realized a few moments later that Peeve's would not be friendly. He started shooting something from the straw he had in his mouth at her. Darla started to run with Peeve's still cackling after her.

"Shouldn't run in the corridors ikle firstie!" He shouted.

Darla ignored him and continued running turning whenever she could until she lost him. She wasn't sure where she was but she didn't worry. Since coming to Hogwarts she had realized that she had a good sense of direction and could find away back to a familiar corridor. She had found that out one evening when she and Colin had been walking back to the Common Room after they had run from Peeve's. She smiled at the memory as she turned a corridor she believed would take her to the Entrance Hall. Colin had questioned her about whether or not a ghost would show up in a picture. She hadn't realized it before but she missed Colin a lot. Despite his annoying questions about Harry, he had been a nice boy to talk to.

Darla found her way out of the Castle and headed to the Green Houses where she saw Professor Sprout standing in knee deep snow waiting for her. She hoped Professor Sprout hadn't been waiting long, it was a very chilly morning. The snow was hard to walk through but Darla made her way through excitedly anyway. Once darla had reached Professor Sprout she took a key from her pocket and opened the Green House, Darla had never been Green House three before.

"I will need to re-pot some of them today so I will allow you to stay and watch me do a couple." Professor Sprout told her as they went inside. "Now, as you know the cry of a Mandrake can kill you. These ones are now old enough to do just that. I have earmuffs you will wear so we can prevent that. Right now, it's safe to enter the Green House without earmuffs but soon we will have to put them on before we go inside. Do you know why?"

"Because eventually they will climb out of their pots and try to get into each others. They go through the same stages people go through, don't they?" Darla asked taking a pair of pink fluffy earmuffs that Professor Sprout handed her.

"That is correct. The Mandrakes cry all the time when they are babies when we take them out of their pots but as they mature they can cry unexpectedly. That's why we have to wear our earmuffs no matter what. The Mandrakes I have here are leaving childhood but most will still cry when they leave their pots." Professor Sprout continued. "Now Earmuffs on."

Darla put them on as Professor Sprout put on green ones. They seemed to block out sound completely. Darla could hear the wind outside before, but now she couldn't hear a thing. She couldn't even hear herself breathe. Professor Sprout led her to where a lot of pots sat on trays. She stopped by one tray and Darla stood beside her eagerly. There was purplish green leaves sticking out of the tops of them. Professor Sprout grabbed one and yanked hard pulling out what looked like a tiny shriveled child. It was wearing pink mitts and pink mitts. It looked confused, Darla was sure she had never seen anything so ugly in her life. It looked like it could be around her age or younger on close inspection if it were an actual human. It blinked as they stared at it before it opened it's mouth and scrunched up it's face. Darla could tell that it was crying at the top of it's lungs. Professor Sprout thrust it into an empty pot before signaling that Darla could take off her earmuffs.

"Wow." Darla said. "They are really neat."

"Yes they are very interesting. I do believe these ones will getting acne soon." Professor Sprout. "Which is good. The faster they mature, the faster we will be able to revive those poor victims."

Darla had an instant picture of Colin all stiff and frozen, an image that was in her dreams a lot. She shuddered and pushed it from her mind. Ginny was lucky she hadn't seen and hadn't wanted to see. Darla put her earmuffs back on and watched Professor Sprout repot a few more before going back to the castle. She wished Professor Sprout hadn't mentioned the petrified victims because it had ruined the experience, no matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop thinking about Colin. She hadn't thought of him in a while but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop picturing him.

A/n: At one point this chapter was longer but my computer crashed last week causing me to lose this chapter and the next two I had already written up. I had planned on uploading all three at once but I lost all three while downloading a program for something else that was obviously bad. The stuff that was meant to be in this chapter (which is completely different from the original one I had planned) will be more in next one. I just wanted this one up before the weekend.

Anyway, review.


	9. Chapter 9

Throughout January Darla noticed a very pleasing change in Ginny. She was no longer withdrawing to the dorms for hours and she was looking less pale. She had always gotten good marks in her classes but it seemed that her marks improved even more as she was concentrating more. She seemed to get frightened even more when someone mentioned the Chamber of Secrets or the attacks though. If Julie, Patty and Sheila began talking about it when the five of them were sitting together, Ginny would get up and leave but she wouldn't go to the dorms she would leave the Common Room.

What displeased Darla was the fact that Ron and Harry grew even more secretive and Hermione was still in the hospital wing. One evening Darla discovered Harry going through a little black book that looked familiar while Ron was reading through one of his essays. Harry looked as though he wanted to hide it from her when she came over but she spoke to soon.

"What is that?" She asked pointing at a book reading the cover, it looked like a diary and it was dated fifty years ago. She wasn't sure why it looked familiar unless she had seen it at home with Harry. Maybe he kept a diary. "Is that your diary?"

"No, I found it in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom." Harry answered reluctantly. "Just trying to see if there is any clues."

"I still think it's just an empty book." Ron muttered. "There is nothing written in it at all."

"I think you should stop trying to solve it." Darla said. "You already have a strike against you for flying that car to school. The teachers who find out, but if they catch you do anything else dangerous you could be expelled. You already had a warning in the summer. I also know that whatever is wrong with Hermione it has to do with you trying to solve the mystery over Christmas. Don't you think that after she got hurt, you should stop?"

"Madame Pomfrey will be able to fix her up just fine, she'll be out soon." Harry answered defiantly. "But I'm not going to sit back while muggleborns are being attacked, I want to stop it. You and Hermione are muggleborn."

Darla couldn't say anything to that she felt suddenly light headed at the thought of Harry wanting to protect her. She was worried he would go too far though. She found herself gripping the crystal again as she stared at the book. She knew she had seen it before but she wasn't sure where. A voice in her head was telling her that she had seen it just recently and had seen it several times before that. The book appeared to be blank though as Harry kept flipping through it.

"Who is Moaning Myrtle?" Darla asked.

"You don't know her? She haunts a toilet on the first floor. You know, near the attack?" Harry answered.

"Oh." Darla said knowing where now, it was a girls toilet out of order because it was always flooded. "I know where you are talking about. It's out of order, isn't it? What were you doing in there anyway? It's a girls bathroom."

"Hermione had told us about her." Harry answered very quickly. "We noticed she had flooded the bathroom again so we went to see why. I found this book on the floor that someone had thrown at her. She's a very depressed ghost."

"So she floods the bathroom? But maybe someone got a diary for Christmas and didn't want it so they threw it at Myrtle. Maybe people pick on her." Darla said. "Although, I _know_ I have seen that diary before. Or perhaps one like it."

"Maybe you are right." Harry said finally agreeing with her. "But where have _you_ seen it?"

"That's what I am trying to find out." Darla said. "I'll have to get back to you when I've thought of it some more."

--

"Try to read the instructions once or twice." Ginny told Darla in Potions class.

They were making a potion that was suppose to help prevent scarring. Professor Snape had just assigned it was now walking around the class collecting their last essay, and insulting people. Darla wondered why he didn't like students, but she was sure that insulting students wasn't allowed. She knew Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster to be the greatest Headmaster at Hogwarts so she didn't understand why he kept Snape on.

"I was never good at baking." Darla told Ginny. "So I'm not surprised that I'm not good at Potion's."

"It's because you try to do it too fast." Ginny answered. "I was never good at Potions either, but Percy has always been a good teacher. Every summer since his first year he would come home and brew potions with mum's help. He wasn't allowed to do magic of course but he wanted to keep up with his school work. So mum always let him make potions as long as she was in the room when he did it. I liked anything that had to do with Hogwarts so I would watch. When I was nine he started letting me help out too but I could never do it right, so he spent the summer teaching me."

Darla nodded and followed Ginny's instructions. She thought Ginny was lucky to have had six brothers before her to do magic, they could show her everything they knew. Her parents would also be able to help as well. All she had was Harry which of course wasn't a bad thing, but all their lives they hadn't known they were magical. When Harry did find out, he couldn't do magic because they couldn't do magic outside of school.

Snape stopped at their essays to collect their essays. "I hope this essay is better than the one you wrote over the Holiday's Ms. Dursley." He sneered. "I don't understand it, you had weeks to do and it was a very poor quality. I hope your potion today will be up to standards as well. Although I wouldn't expect more from Potter's cousin."

Darla felt herself go red as Snape took Ginny's essay next without saying a word. It was the first time he had ever said anything to her about Harry. Normally he insulted her work and continued. She was determined to do better that day just to prove to Snape that she wasn't a dunderhead as he had said he hoped the class wouldn't be on their first day of school. Ginny seemed to understand because she helped her out throughout the class.

"What is this Ms. Timmins?" She heard Snape say at the end of class.

Darla looked over to where Julie and Sheila were at the table beside them. Julie was blushing as Snape stared into her cauldron that was letting off red bubbles. She looked as though she couldn't say a word, Snape waved his wand lazily and the potion disappeared.

"Homework tonight, you'll write why your potion went wrong. Two rolls of Parchment." He told her.

He moved to Ginny's and Darla's table next and peered into Darla's cauldron. He looked angry when he saw that for once she had gotten it right. She wondered if he would get angry at Ginny for helping her but he didn't say a word. He glanced into Ginny's cauldron next before moving on. Ginny and Darla began cleaning up quickly. Before the bell rang Professor Snape called out:

"For next class, I want you to write me two rolls of parchment about the properties of this potion. Why does it work on some scarring and why it doesn't work on others."

Julie let out a squeak and looked as though she would burst into tears as the bell rang. She would have to essays to write now. Sheila and Patty were comforting her, and telling her that Snape was very unfair. Darla was glad to have had Ginny's help or she might have been in Julie's situation as well.

"He seems really foul lately, doesn't he?" Darla asked Ginny as they left the classroom. "I mean more than usual anyway."

"I noticed that." Ginny said. "I guess he made a Hufflepuff second year cry yesterday in class. I heard Ron telling Harry that."

"Those two are still up to something. They're now trying to find clues from a book." Darla said. "They should just let the teachers figure it out."

"Yes I know, if they get in anymore trouble they could be expelled. People already think Harry is, well you know." Ginny said going very white. "I suppose Hermione sends them to the library to find clues from books all the time though. Wonder when she's going to get out of the Hospital wing anyway."

--

Hermione left the Hospital Wing early February looking very pleased. Darla had hoped once she was out of the Hospital Wing they would see more or Ron, Hermione and Harry but if it was possible they grew more secretive and were always pouring through the book. Darla kept wanting to mention it to Ginny but she didn't want to upset her. She had finally stopped hiding out in the dormitory all the time.

Hermione loved Calicalpurnia too. She seemed to love her name as well while Ron still said it was a mental name. Calicalpurnia was bigger now and attacked everything even more than she had before. Darla had once caught her near the fireplace and had quickly run over to get her away from it. Percy did a clever charm for her one evening that prevented Calicalpurnia from going near the fire anymore when he caught her doing it. Every time she would go near it now she would get distracted and attack something else.

"I don't expect she would go right in the fire." Hermione told her. "Once she got close enough to it she would realize it's dangerous. I have a cousin who had a kitten years ago that sniffed a candle. It singed her whiskers and she never went hear one again. I think the heat would scare her off."

"Maybe." Darla said. "But it's better to be safe than sorry. She's very curious about everything. I'm glad Percy did the Charm because it works on all the pets I think, not just her."

Everyone seemed to be in good moods, especially Professor Lockhart. He was telling everyone that the attacks were finished now because the culprit knew he would catch them. Darla hoped he was right All they had to do was wait for the Mandrakes to be ready so they could revive the victims. She knew that some people still believed it was Harry who was doing the attacks but had decided to stop. She heard the whispers in the corridors.

On Valentine's day Darla and Ginny entered the Great Hall together and froze to see it wasn't the normal Great Hall they saw everyday. There walls were completely covered in large pink flowers while heart shaped confetti fell from the ceiling. Darla and Ginny gaped at each other before continuing to walk over to the Gryffindor table. She realized how much she loved magic and Hogwarts. She knew that while there would likely be a Ball at Frances they wouldn't go as far as they did at Hogwarts.

"Wow." Darla said as they joined the three other girls. "It's so nice in here isn't it?"

"Yes I know." Patty said in a dreamy voice. "And it was all Lockhart's doing. Isn't he just amazing?"

Darla nodded an agreement and looked up at the teachers table. To her surprise she saw that they didn't look pleased at all. Lockhart looked very pleased with himself, he was wearing pink robes. She looked around the Great Hall to find that a lot of the students, mostly the boys weren't too happy at all. The Students at the Slytherin table in particular were looking very angry and disgusted.

"Look at Ron." Ginny said giggling pointing down the table.

Ron's face was very red as he stared at Lockhart in disgust. He looked as though he had just tasted something very funny and was about to throw up. Hermione was giggling and Harry wasn't there yet. Darla knew he wouldn't be happy with the decorations either. Darla thought it was nice of Lockhart to go through all this trouble to cheer people up with all that was happening at the school. She didn't understand why the students weren't a lot more happier about it.

A few moments later Lockhart waved for quiet and shouted: "Happy Valentine's Day! And may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all - and it doesn't end here!"

"I hope he has read mine." Patty whispered. "I think he will like it a lot. I spent almost a week working on it."

Darla hadn't thought to send him or anyone a Valentine's card. She wondered if she should later, she had always done it back at her old school. There weren't any boys that she liked at the moment and while she agreed that Lockhart was handsome she didn't fancy him like a lot of the girls did. She thought his teaching was strange too, she wasn't learning anything about defensive spells or how to stay away from dark creatures.

Lockhart clapped his hands and through the doors to the Entrance Hall marched a dozen surly-looking dwarfs. Not just any dwarfs, however. Lockhart had them wearing golden wings and carrying harps. "My friendly, card-carrying cupids!" beamed Lockhart. "They will be roving around the school today delivering your Valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"

Darla was sure that it would be safer not to ask Snape to brew a love Potion. She had heard they were banned from Hogwarts anyway, so she didn't know why Lockhart had suggested it. Everyone got up to leave the Great Hall, a lot of people were muttering disgustedly under their breath. Darla looked at Ginny who had a very determined look on her face.

"I'll meet you in Herbology ok?" Ginny said to Darla and turned away quickly.

Darla wondered what it was that she was up to but Ginny wouldn't say when she went to class later. It wasn't until late afternoon when Darla figured it out. All day the dwarfs had been going to their classes and delivering Valentine's and it seemed that Ginny decided to send one to Harry. Darla felt jealous when she saw Patty and Sheila get a lot throughout the day. She wasn't the only one, Julie like her didn't receive one and she was angry. She stopped talking to Patty and Sheila who didn't seem to notice or care.

As they were going into Transfiguration they passed the Gryffindor second years, which of course included Harry. A dwarf called out for Harry who looked around and had a look of horror on his face as it made it's way to him, kicking at people to get to him. Ginny's face suddenly went red as she stared at Harry and the dwarf. "I've got a musical message to deliver to 'Arry Potter in person," he said

Harry seemed to make a run for it but the Dwarf stopped him by grabbing him by his bag and pulling him back. Darla felt sorry for Harry and Ginny who were both very red. The bad split and all of Harry's stuff fell onto the floor, Darla tried to make her way through the large crowd to try and help him but too many people were in the way now, watching. She wished they would go as Draco Malfoy made his way through the crowd to see what was going on.

Percy Weasley showed up next as Harry tried to get everything in his bag then tried to run but the Dwarf grabbed him around the ankles and made him fall before starting to sing:

"His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,

His hair is as dark as a blackboard.

I wish he was mine, he's really divine,

The hero who conquered the Dark Lord"

Darla laughed, she couldn't help it but then she saw the terrified look on Ginny's face and didn't understand why. Harry wouldn't get upset with her for it, he would pretend it hadn't happened. Although Darla supposed it was a bit insensitive of him to try and run from it. It had just made it worse for everyone. Darla followed Ginny's eyes to where Harry's old diary lay and realized that it was the diary that was upsetting her more than the singing Valentine. Draco Malfoy was picking it up now.

Darla suddenly realized where it was that she had seen the diary, it had been Ginny's. She didn't know why she hadn't thought of it before. Why had Ginny thrown it at Moaning Myrtle then? Darla remembered too that it had been blank and yet Darla had seen Ginny writing in it constantly. Ginny must have known a good charm to keep it blank or the diary just came like that. Ginny was probably worried that Harry would figure out how to work the diary and discover her secrets. She thought it was a bit stupid of Ginny to throw away the diary in case someone other than Harry had found it. Darla knew the Slytherin girls would really enjoy reading and telling everyone Ginny's secrets. Darla guessed it was a bit lucky that Harry had found the diary and Ginny saw so she could get it back.

Darla hadn't been paying attention but she saw Ginny cover her face with her hands and run into the classroom so she chased after her. Ginny had taken a seat in the back of the classroom and was still covering her face when Darla reached her.

"Was-was it you that sent the Valentine?" Darla asked Ginny.

Ginny said something muffled in her hands that Darla couldn't catch.

"Harry won't say anything you know, he'll pretend it never happened." Darla said.

Professor McGonagall entered the classroom a few moments later and shouted for silence since everyone was still talking about what had happened in the corridors. They were doing a test that day so they had to put all their books away while she handed out the test papers.

"And I do not want to catch anyone cheating this time." She said, "Or you'll fail the whole test. I can tell the difference between a first year's answer and an answer written by an Auto answer quill. You may begin."

--

"Ginny." Darla said later that night.

Ginny looked up still really upset about what had happened earlier that day. "That diary Malfoy found of Harry's, it's yours isn't it?"

Ginny avoided Darla's eyes as she looked away. "Well, I'm sure if you told Harry you accidently left it in the bathroom he'll give it back. The only reason he is carrying it around is because he thinks it might have a clue to the Chamber of Secrets. He hasn't figured out how to work it yet though, so you are safe still."

Instead of this cheering Ginny up like Darla had hoped it made her go pale. She burst into tears in front of Darla and ran up to the dormitories. Darla looked around for Harry wondering if she should tell Harry that it wasn't a clue to the Chamber of Secrets but Ginny's lost diary. Darla still wondered why Ginny had thrown it away in the first place. Darla decided she would let Ginny tell Harry, she might get angry if Darla did it.

She got up and went over to where Fred and George Weasley were playing chess and sat down to watch them. George glanced up at her.

"Ever play chess before?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "I've watched but I haven't played no."

He nodded and the twins continued to play until George beat Fred. George let out a loud whoop which caused a lot of people to look over at them. Fred then stood up and offered Darla his chair so that George could teach her how to play. She knew it was far more exciting than muggles chess, wizards chess moved on their own. They didn't show mercy either when they knocked an opponent off the board. Darla was white and Fred stood behind her to give her hints on to play. She lost quickly but enjoyed the game.

She stayed with them until Ron, Harry and Hermione entered the Common Room deep in conversation about something. She said goodbye to the twins and went over to where they had sat down in a secluded area of the Common Room. They stopped talking at once when she took a seat with them weighing the idea of telling Harry that the diaries owner was Ginny's. She was hoping Harry would bring it up but he didn't. Calicalpurnia leapt into Darla's lap and she stroked her behind the ear as she told Harry what had happened in her lastest Potion's class with Snape. She had told him what had happened before.

"Just ignore him." Hermione said before Harry could answered. "Don't give him reason to pick on you more than he does."

Darla went up to the dormitory shortly after to find Ginny laying on her bed doing the latest Transfiguration essay. They were quiet for a few moments before Ginny spoke, sounding as if she had a head cold.

"Don't say anything to Harry please. I will tell him myself."

"Ok." Darla said. "And I am sorry that I upset you, I wasn't trying to. I just thought if you told Harry he would give it back, then you wouldn't have to worry about him finding anything out. But why did you throw it at Moaning Myrtle anyway?"

"I didn't throw it at her. I was angry about- about something someone had said. So I through my books around the-the bathroom." Ginny said not looking at her. "I-I forgot the diary I guess. I meant to get it but it was gone."

Darla knew this was a lie but she didn't say anything to Ginny. She could usually come up with better excuses for things but this time she must have been really upset. Darla just nodded and promised that she would let Ginny tell Harry before getting ready for bed. Once she was under the covers and had the curtain around her bed she let herself cry quietly. Why was it that no one could trust her? Why did they make up excuses and lies? Darla turned over angrily and buried her face in her pillow. Someday she would have a secret and she wouldn't tell anyone. She hoped they would all feel the way she did at the moment then. She thought she had proved herself to be trustworthy but still no one would tell her anything.

In fact she knew a secret that she had been holding back for months that she hadn't told Ginny or Harry. Something that would help Harry solve another mystery he had been trying to solve. Someone had been killing Hagrid's roosters and Darla had found several rooster feathers in the dormitory. She felt bad for not telling Hagrid but she wanted to be sure of who it had been first before telling anyone. It was Patty, Julie or Sheila. Darla believed it was Julie since she didn't seem to like Hagrid at all. Her only problem was that she had no proof that it _was_ Julie. Darla decided at that moment it would be _her _mystery to solve. She would not tell Harry or Ginny what she had found until later. The only proof she had anyway was that most of the feathers were near Julie's bed. But they could have come from some where else.

_But then? _Darla asked herself. _Why did the feathers suddenly turn up in the dormitory when Harry had mentioned that Hagrid was worried about some animal killing his roosters? Didn't Julie tell Darla and Ginny that it was strange for them to want to visit a scary hairy ugly giant? Hadn't she said that she wished something could drive him out of school so she didn't have to see him while they ate in the Great Hall? _Darla grinned to herself now, Harry and his friends weren't the only ones who could solve mysteries.


End file.
